A Halloween Anthology
by LouBlue
Summary: Olicity. A follow on from my 'Love Potion' story with a Halloween theme. Join up with Team Arrow for a night of chills and thrills... and a surprisingly liberal use of the word 'crotch'. Not to be taken seriously... or orally... topical application only recommended.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N****: Hello, my ducklings! Your Aunty Lou has missed you all! *big hugs* Have you lost weight? You look fab. And is that a new haircut – really suits you. ;) Thank you to those who reached out and said they were missing my stories. That was very sweet of you. Here, have a cookie. I even washed my hands before making them. Yes, that's how much I appreciate it. 3**

**Hank has missed you too, but he'd never admit it. He's just engaged in a lot of destructive behavior as a kind of cry for help. Well, I say cry for help… it's more some kind of guttural scream of terror-inducing devastation. Think Braveheart but with more butt exposure. Some things never change… like Hank's lack of decorum. **

**Right, better use my inside voice for any newcomers to an Aunty Lou story now. **

**Hello, thank you so much for clicking on my story. You have plenty of choices in this fandom, so thank you for choosing this story. :D Now, this Halloween story is kind of a follow on from my previous Arrow stories. I'm not saying you have to read the other stories to read this fic… but it's really, really going to help. I mean, a lot. You're going to have questions if you just dive in… a lot of questions. This story is kind of a little love letter to my faithful readers who stuck through me with the angst of the previous two fics. A love letter which contains key words like 'fingering' and 'nub rubbing'. I'm not going to lie – I write a weird ass love letter. **

**There are lots of little in jokes that will make no sense and well, you just won't get as much out of it as you could. So, while I'd never stop anyone from reading any of my stories (except my Mum for some of my more… ahem… adult orientated ones… obviously she's not allowed to read them). However, you might want to consider checking out 'Secret Women's Business' and 'Love Potion Number 9' before attempting to take a crack at this little story. Trust me, it'll help. **

**Now, as to this actual fic. Yes, I know Halloween has come and gone. Think of me being uber early for the next Halloween. That's what I'm doing. I tried to write a really scary story but honestly, I put Team Arrow together and one very special addition to the team – my ducklings will know who ;) – and well, I just can't keep a straight face. I'm rating this as M because there are some pretty adult conversations and I don't want to permanently damage young minds – that's what families are for. **

**This story picks up basically the next day couple of days from where Love Potion left off. We all remember where we left off, right? Excellent. It takes a couple of chapters until I get to the actual Halloween part of this story, so bear with won't you while I build up a little steam on this one. **

**Right, I think that's all I wanted to say about this story. It's not that long (that's what she said) and I'm going to get started on the sequel to LP while you get on with this little story. I really hope you have fun with it. I had fun writing it. :D And last, but certainly not least, a big THANK YOU to Pheebs who kindly beta-ed this first chapter for me. You're a doll. *hug* **

**And now, on with the show…**

**A HALLOWEEN ANTHOLOGY**

"Perversity is the human thirst for self-torture."

~Edgar Allan Poe~

**CHAPTER ONE**

Felicity peeked out from the door which closed off a corridor leading to an underground power grid station. She looked around at the night scape in the middle of Starling City's city center which was filling up with more and more people as the Friday night partying started in earnest. Felicity surreptitiously slipped out of the door, locking it behind her and then smoothed down her red coat, adjusted her glasses and tried to look like she hadn't just been interfering with the city's power grid to allow a certain group of thieves to be taken down. The gang had been using the city's own energy grid to power a machine which caused people's brains to basically liquefy in their skulls, using the technology to extort money or face your brains running out your nose. Their latest threat had them targeting the nightclub and bar area of the city, which Felicity was currently standing in the middle of. They'd tried to force the Mayor to pay over twenty-million dollars to prevent the attack, but that was where Team Arrow had come in.

It had been pretty ugly there for a moment, but now Felicity was more than a little relieved Starling City's finest was currently introducing the criminals to the backseat of several police cars, thanks to their intervention. All in all it had been a good night, the bad guys were off the street, the Halloween revelers around her would continue on with their night completely unaware of the attack that had just been prevented. "I'm all clear," said Felicity into coms. She smiled as a zombified nurse and a half-transformed werewolf walked by, on their way to a nearby bar. "But feeling a little underdressed for the occasion." The streets were full of people dressed in their Halloween finery, ghosts, grim reapers and blood-spattered victims as far as the eye could see. "If only they all knew how close they came to not needing the makeup tonight. Is everyone okay?"

"All clear," said Roy, "just caught the last straggler and dropping him off to the boys in blue."

"Clear," agreed Diggle. "Circling back around. Felicity, I'll come and pick you up."

Oliver's voice was in her ear. "Don't worry about it, Digg, I'm not far away. Felicity, stay where you are, I'm on my way."

"We all meeting back at the lair?" asked Roy.

"Yes, I want to debrief," said Oliver.

"Let's make it snappy," said Diggle. "I've got a party to go to."

"Seriously?" There was no missing the amazement in Roy's voice. "You know what a party is, right? You don't think you're going to a seminar on how to grimace or anything?"

"Cute," said Diggle flatly.

"John, I've picked up your costume," said Felicity, starting to walk down the street, weaving between all the Halloween merrymakers.

"It's a _costume_ party?" Roy sounded like he was laughing now. "This I've gotta see. What are you going as? Please say Tinkerbell, please say Tinkerbell."

"I'm going as the guy who squashes annoying bugs," said Diggle dourly.

"As long as its got some kind of tutu thing going on, I'm fine with that."

"You won't be," predicted Diggle direly.

Felicity laughed. "Digg, you'll look very handsome in it, Lyla will love it."

"Oh… hot date, right," said Roy knowingly. "Guess that explains you doing something that might accidentally result in you having fun."

"Do you want to guess what I'm thinking would be fun right now?" asked Diggle ominously. "You and me doing a little training together where I hand you your petite ass."

"Hey!" said Roy sharply. "My ass is not petite! Stop using that word about me."

"I wish someone would call my ass petite," lamented Felicity.

"The hell you do," said Oliver firmly. "Your ass is perfect, Felicity Smoak and I won't have anyone talking smack about it, not even you."

Felicity couldn't help the large grin which came to her face at Oliver's defiant defense of what she now knew was one of her favorite attributes. She bit her bottom lip, hardly able to believe that they were eight dates into their twenty date quota and everything just kept getting better between them.

"It is a great ass," agreed Roy conversationally.

"Don't make me kill you, Roy," said Oliver darkly.

"I'm just sayin'," he protested. "It doesn't mean anything."

"What it means is you should stop talking now," Diggle advised him. "You know Oliver hasn't got a huge sense of humor when it comes to Felicity and other men."

"Roy's not other men," said Felicity, still walking. "He's more like, I don't know, kind of like a fixture or something, like a chair."

"A chair?" exclaimed Roy. "I'm a freaking piece of furniture? Are you being serious right now?"

"I just mean that I don't see you that way."

"No," said Roy, sounding more than a little miffed, "apparently all you see when you look at my face is something to sit on."

"I don't want to sit on your face, Roy," said Felicity in exasperation.

"So, what, my face isn't good enough for your butt now?" asked Roy in outrage.

"Okay, stupidest argument ever," said Diggle in resignation.

"Everyone stop talking about sitting on faces," said Oliver sternly. "Roy, you just stop talking all together."

"Felicity started it," protested Roy.

"And I'm ending it," said Oliver flatly. "Everyone stops talking about Felicity's butt now. Just rendezvous back at the lair, okay? Felicity, I'm not far away. Be there in a minute."

Up ahead Felicity saw Oliver's familiar green leathers pop out of an alleyway and her face lit up. She quickened her pace, catching up with him as he strode along the sidewalk, his outfit not out of place for once amongst all the other Halloween get ups. Felicity came up behind him as Oliver stood at a crossing, waiting on the lights to change so he could cross the street. She slipped her arms around his waist. "Hey there, big boy, looking to party tonight?" she said cheekily. He turned his head to look back at her and pushed back his hood at the same time. Felicity gave a little gasp of shock as the man's bald head was revealed.

The man grinned down at her, rather lecherously. "Sure thing, baby. Your place or mine?"

Felicity flushed and quickly shook her head, taking a step back. "I'm so sorry. I thought you were someone else."

"I can be anyone you want me to be, sweetheart," he said, turning around to face her, his gaze openly running up and down the length of her body. "That's the fun of Halloween."

"I'm not looking for any fun," said Felicity hastily. Her gaze drifted to more of the people around them as they made their way to nightclubs and bars and Felicity suddenly realized there were a lot of Arrow costumes out there. It seemed the mysterious vigilante was flavor of the night.

"You sure?" the man quizzed her, still looking her over with a lot of interest. "My bow shoots real arrows, you know." He wiggled his eyebrows at her suggestively.

"So does mine."

Felicity felt a surge of relief at the sound of the familiar voice just behind her. She looked over her shoulder to see Oliver standing directly behind her, hood up and looking particularly ominous as he stood there, face mostly obscured by the mask and shadows of the hood. A huge smile lit up Felicity's face. "There you are," she said happily.

"Here I am," agreed Oliver calmly, not taking his eyes off the other man.

The bald Arrow gave a bit of a grimace as he worked out he was obviously out of the running with the appearance of the other man. "Sorry, bro, no harm, no foul. Thought I was onto a good thing there for a moment."

"You weren't," said Felicity hastily. "You really, really weren't. It was a case of mistaken identity."

"Oh well," said the man philosophically, "easy come, easy go, I guess." He looked Oliver's outfit over. "Nice try with the costume, dude. I think mine is more authentic looking though. Trust me, I'm a real expert when it comes to the Arrow."

"Is that right?" said Oliver coolly.

"Oh yeah, but good try," said the man casually, pulling his hood back up. "Not everyone has the eye for detail that I do." With that the man walked off down the street, leaving a highly amused Felicity in his wake.

She grinned up at Oliver. "Nice try," she parroted the other man, "but that eye for detail gets you every time, doesn't it?" Felicity teased him.

"Says the woman who couldn't tell me apart from every other Arrow wannabe," he teased her right back.

Felicity gave a quick look around. "Come on, be fair, you're everywhere tonight. A girl is bound to get a little turned around. I bet you'd have trouble if everyone here came dressed as Felicity Smoak."

"No, I wouldn't," said Oliver confidently as he pulled her into his arms, "I'd know that butt anywhere." His hands slipped down to cup her backside. "Anywhere," he repeated throatily.

Felicity couldn't help but smile as she leant into him. "I thought we weren't allowed to talk about my butt anymore?"

"Roy doesn't get to talk about it," said Oliver with feigned sternness. "Me on the other hand…" He tightened his grip on her bottom possessively. "Well, that's a whole other story."

Felicity felt the usual tingles in the pit of her stomach at Oliver's touch but she forced a stern look on her face. "Speaking of hands… let's keep it PG13 while we're out here on the streets, okay?" She reached behind her to pull Oliver's hands up to the far more appropriate waist area. They smiled at each other.

"You did really well tonight," said Oliver, the pride obvious in his voice as he turned them around, keeping an arm around her waist as he walked them back to his bike.

"We all did," said Felicity, slipping her arm around his waist. It was moments like these that made Felicity feel like she was in some kind of dream, one she never wanted to wake up from. She was walking down the street with Oliver's arm around her waist and it all just felt so right. "I'm just glad we don't have to worry about liquefying brains anymore." She gave a little start as a couple of ghouls jumped out of an alleyway, shouting and laughing at them. Felicity laughed back at their impish antics, even as Oliver protectively drew her closer to him. "Although death seems to be everywhere tonight and got an early start with the drinking," she said in amusement as the undead men ran off to join up with a group of loud witches and naughty nurses.

Oliver swung Felicity around, drawing her into the alleyway the other men had just appeared from and pressed her up against the bricked wall. He slipped his arms around her waist again and smiled down at her. "Hi," he said throatily.

"Hi," said Felicity, looking up at him with the biggest smile on her face which Oliver promptly kissed. She sighed happily into the kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck. When Oliver finally broke the kiss she was breathless. "The others are going to be waiting for us," she said unevenly.

"They can wait," said Oliver, nibbling on her neck and ignoring the stream of people walking by the alleyway, content for them to stay in their own little world.

Felicity wrinkled her nose as Oliver found a particularly sensitive spot on her neck. "I don't want to make Diggle late for his date," she said unevenly.

Oliver pulled back, eyes full of warm anticipation. "You make a good point. Once we've gotten rid of the others, we can have our own date, just the two of us, in the lair—"

Felicity arched an eyebrow. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"We can order in," said Oliver easily. His hands moved a little restlessly over her hips. "I've been sharing you with everyone else all day and all I want is to have you to myself finally."

"Well, that won't happen at the lair," she prompted him. "We have a houseguest, remember?"

Oliver's face fell. "Oh yeah, right, how could I forget?" he said flatly.

"Don't be like that," tutted Felicity. "Bunny is no bother."

"I'm bothered," said Oliver moodily. "Not that anyone seems to care about that."

"Diggle made a promise to protect him until Bunny's people can take down this Ross Ross guy," said Felicity pragmatically, "and him staying at the lair just made good sense until he could lock down a secure location."

"You can't use the words 'Bunny' and 'good sense' in the same sentence," said Oliver in vague annoyance. "They just don't go together. I don't even know how I got talked into this whole thing in the first place."

"You weren't, you were outvoted," she reminded him.

"And when exactly did we turn into a democracy?" asked Oliver in exasperation. "I thought I called the shots."

"You get more than your fair share of shot calling," Felicity countered, patting him on the chest. "The rest of us have earned our turns as well."

"If letting the rest of you have a go at making decisions ends up with a fifty plus year old British arms dealing billionaire living in our operations core, then I think we need to rethink this system," said Oliver flatly.

"Is that it?" asked Felicity curiously. "Is that why you're so determined not to like Bunny, because you want to be the only billionaire in the team?"

Oliver scowled down at her. "Bunny's not _in_ the team… he's just kind of, I don't know… squatting for a bit. He's not staying. As soon as this Ross situation is taken care of, he's gone for good." His frown deepened when Felicity didn't immediately respond. "Felicity?"

"I like him," said Felicity abruptly. "I think we should keep him."

Oliver's eyes went wide and his hands dropped from her hips and he took a step back. "What?"

"Bunny followed us home and now I think we should keep him," she repeated. "We kind of have to now, we've got our scent on him."

"He's not a baby bird who's fallen out of the nest," said Oliver in vexation. "He's a loose cannon, a wild card and he's a threat to our group."

"Oh please," said Felicity dismissively, "no, he's not."

"On what are you basing that assumption exactly?"

Felicity shrugged. "It's just an instinct."

"Instinct?" repeated Oliver with obvious reservation in his tone.

Felicity stepped away from the wall and turned back around to face Oliver, who now had his back to the wall. "Yes, instinct. You know, the same instincts which had me helping you out in the beginning even when every word out of your mouth was a complete fabrication." She gave him a pointed look. "The same instincts that had me driving a guy in green leathers leaking blood over my backseat to a secret hideout rather than a police station."

Oliver grimaced. "That was totally different."

"No, my instincts told me I could trust you, just like they are with Bunny and besides—"

"Besides what?"

"I want a girlfriend."

Oliver looked taken aback. "Excuse me?"

"I want a girlfriend to do girly things with," Felicity confessed. She pulled a face. "I'm with guys all the time and I miss having a girlfriend in my life to be a girly girl with."

"You can be a girly girl with me," protested Oliver.

Felicity folded her arms in front of herself. "I'd like to go shoe shopping on the weekend. How do you feel about spending five hours looking for shoes, going to multiple shops and then still quite probably going home without any new shoes?"

"Sounds great," lied Oliver valiantly. "I can't wait."

"I was also thinking about having three back to back viewings of 'The Notebook' to get my crying quota out for the month."

"I'm in," said Oliver, but his voice was decidedly unsteadily and a look of vague panic was creeping into his eyes. "You have a crying quota?"

Felicity ignored his surprised question. "And then of course I'm having trouble with the place I get my waxing done. Do you have any recommendations for anyone who is good with bikini waxing?" she asked sweetly.

Oliver opened his mouth and then closed it again. "Okay, fine, waxing might be creeping a little out of my skill set," he admitted reluctantly. "But do you really think it's in Bunny's?"

Felicity arched an eyebrow.

"Okay, fine," grumbled Oliver, "it probably is."

"Exactly, I need a girlfriend and that's why Bunny is a perfect fit," said Felicity roundly. "I mean, you and Diggle and Roy are all amazing but sometimes a girl just needs a little estrogen in her life, you know?"

"You do realize Bunny is a guy, right?" said Oliver in frustration.

"Bunny is a guy in the same way you're an idle, billionaire playboy," retorted Felicity.

"But can't you find yourself another female friend?" complained Oliver. "One who doesn't run guns for a living and I don't know, is an _actual_ female?"

"And when would I be doing this hunting and gathering of a new female friend exactly?" she countered. "Between Queen Consolidated, the Arrow and us dating now, you pretty much suck up all of my time."

"You make that sound like a bad thing," said Oliver unhappily.

"Oliver, you know I love being sucked by you—" Felicity stopped abruptly as Oliver's lips twitched and he suddenly had a very knowing look in his eyes. She blushed a little but tried not to get distracted. Felicity cleared her throat. "I mean my time being sucked, not sucked in general by you, which hasn't really happened—"

Oliver's smile was getting wider. "We can fix that." He took a step towards her but Felicity held up her hand and shook her head at him.

"Oh no you don't, mister. You don't get to win this argument by being all sexy sexy."

"We're not arguing," said Oliver in mild vexation. "I'm just trying to point out that I'm sure you could find yourself a better girlfriend then an international arms dealer."

"It'd have to be a woman I already know and there aren't many of them," said Felicity. "The next contender would be Laurel." She looked him over. "How would you feel if Laurel and I became besties?"

Oliver hesitated. "I don't want you and Laurel to be unfriendly," he said slowly.

"Yeah, but do you want us being _best_ friends?" she challenged him. "Getting together, talking…" Felicity gave him a decidedly pointed look. "Comparing notes."

Oliver suddenly looked uncomfortable. "Ah… well…"

"And that's why Bunny is the perfect candidate," said Felicity in triumph. "You haven't had sex with him… although I'm pretty sure he'd be happy to fix that, given half a chance."

"I just don't know why all of a sudden your two choices for BFF is an over the top, handsie gun runner and my ex-girlfriend," said Oliver in frustration. "Which one am I supposed to feel happy signing off on?"

Felicity gave an inelegant snort. "I'm not asking you to sign off on anything. The thing with Bunny is happening. I don't need your permission about who I want to be my friend, Oliver Queen." She rolled her eyes at him. "Like that would ever be a thing."

"Then why even bring it up then?" asked Oliver, pulling a face.

"I just wanted you to be prepared," said Felicity easily. "I know you don't like surprises and this way, you can have a bit of a run up at the concept… which is totally happening, no matter how much you pout."

"I don't pout, remember?" pouted Oliver as he slumped back against the wall behind him. "I'm a grown man. Grown men don't pout."

Felicity just smiled. "Glad to hear it." She walked up to him and put her hands on his chest. "Just what is it that you have against Bunny anyways? Maybe if you tell me your concerns about the man, I can come up with something to make you feel better."

"He's an unknown quantity," said Oliver sharply. "We barely know anything about him and what we do, I don't like."

"Mmhm," said Felicity sympathetically, even as she leant into him more and pressed her breasts up against his chest.

"He's a known associate of a lot of bad people," said Oliver, sounding a little more distracted now as Felicity started to press soft kisses up his neck.

"You associate with a lot of bad people," murmured Felicity, lips brushing against his skin as she spoke. She pulled back a little and arched an eyebrow. "In fact you've slept with more than one of them."

Oliver made a face. "There were extenuating circumstances."

"Of course there were," said Felicity understandingly. She went up on her tip toes so she could start kissing her way along his jawline. "Not everything is black and white… just like it isn't with Bunny."

"No… no, that isn't what I meant," said Oliver unsteadily as her hands moved around his waist and up under his leather jacket.

"Why don't you tell me what you mean?" suggested Felicity huskily as she rubbed herself against him. She could feel the way Oliver's breathing was getting uneven and it was a heady feeling to know she could have this kind of effect on him.

"I-I… ah… well—" Oliver cleared his throat, obviously having a lot of difficulty focusing on their conversation.

Felicity found Oliver's hand and drew it towards her body.

"I don't like how he just inserted himself into our… into our…"

She moved his hand to her breast, letting him cup it. Her nerve ending tingled as Oliver's hand automatically tightened on her breast, making Felicity's nipples immediately harden. "Life?" she offered up innocently but now she was the one who was a little breathless.

"Yes," he croaked, eyes glazing over a little behind the mask he was still wearing.

This was the first time Oliver had touched her breast and Felicity was enjoying the fact she'd initiated it. So was Oliver, judging by the expression on his face. Felicity pressed her advantage. "Maybe it'll be a good thing."

"What?" asked Oliver distractedly.

"Bunny, maybe he'll bring something extra to the team that we've been lacking," suggested Felicity, having her own difficulty keeping her mind on the conversation as Oliver's thumb started to rub its way back and forth over her nipple, hardening it to an even tighter peak. Fissures of electricity were radiating out through her entire body from the simple caress, despite the fact Oliver's hand was separated from her skin by her blouse and bra. Felicity tried not to melt into a puddle at the thought of what actual flesh on flesh would feel like. "Wh-what other concerns do you have?" she pushed on, enjoying their game.

"He… ahh… agenda… don't know… convenient…" Oliver was rambling incoherently, eyelids drooping as continued to fondle her breast.

"All good points," said Felicity, teasing him a little breathlessly.

"Damn it," muttered Oliver with no real force in his voice, "what have you done to me?"

Felicity gave a little smile. "I'm using logic to quell your concerns."

"Trust me," said Oliver shakily, "nothing is being quelled right now." He gave an unsteady groan. "I thought we weren't allowed to use sex to win arguments?" he complained raggedly but Felicity noticed he made no attempt to relinquish her breast.

"Silly boy," she purred, hot breath in his ear, "that rule is just for you. I get to do whatever I want." To prove her point, Felicity's hand crept down to find his bottom cheeks and squeezed them. "You got a problem with that?"

"God no," said Oliver weakly.

Felicity had to stifle a laugh at how desperate he sounded but the trouble was, she was starting to feel a little desperate herself. Still on her tiptoes, Felicity found Oliver's lips again and this time their kisses were decidedly more heated. Felicity pressed Oliver up against the wall, using her body weight and Oliver's free hand went to her backside, making sure she stayed there. Things were rapidly spiraling out of control as Oliver's kisses became more demanding and Felicity was more than happy to meet that need. His tongue was in her mouth, eagerly seeking out the taste of her and Felicity was even more grateful for that hand on her backside as her knees weakened at Oliver's ardor.

"I'm hungry. Who wants pizza?"

Roy's jarring announcement and question was suddenly in both of their ears, startling them and breaking the kiss. Oliver made a low growling noise of frustration as Felicity shook her head to clear it.

Diggle responded. "I've got the party. I'll eat there."

"Oliver, Felicity?"

Oliver grimaced, looking annoyed. He touched the transmitter on his chest to respond. "No," he said curtly.

"We're okay, Roy, thanks," said Felicity more politely even if she was still trying to catch her breath.

"More extra anchovies and garlic for me then," said Roy happily.

Oliver shook his head. "That guy has the worst timing," he said in annoyance. "And taste in pizza toppings."

"Maybe he has great timing," suggested Felicity as she looked over her shoulder at the busy street around them. "We're not exactly alone here. I think it was probably a good thing we got interrupted because I don't think either of us was exactly thinking straight right then." Felicity pretty much knew that she'd been without willpower in that moment and in no state to slow things down between them. She blushed at knowing how far she probably would have gone if Roy hadn't interrupted them.

"Don't," groaned Oliver unevenly, cupping her face, thumb stroking the pink hue of her cheek, "that is not helping me rein myself back in here. You know what your blushing does to me."

"And I keep telling you I can't help it," said Felicity, wrinkling her nose.

"What were you thinking just then?" he asked her, eyes full of impish intent. "Why did you blush?"

Felicity felt her cheeks heat even more as she tried to banish the picture in her head of letting Oliver take her roughly up against the alleyway wall. "Don't remember," she squeaked, gaze skittering away from his and trying to push the image of a sweating, heaving Oliver out of her mind's eye. Felicity took a quick step back, knowing being this close to him wasn't exactly helping cooler heads to prevail.

Oliver arched a knowing eyebrow from behind his mask. "Liar, liar, pants on fire," he teased her.

Many a true word spoken in jest. Felicity's pants did feel like they were on fire. Damn it. She pushed her glasses up her nose and tried to get a hold of herself. "We should get back to the lair," she reminded him.

"I was kind of invested in what we were doing just then," said Oliver cheekily.

"What we were doing just then was going to get us arrested," said Felicity, glancing around at all the partygoers. "I really don't need another indecent exposure charge on my police record."

Oliver looked immediately interested. "When were you done for indecent exposure?" He grinned. "And tell the story slowly. Don't leave out any details, I want to hear them all."

Felicity rolled her eyes at his avid interest. "I'm not telling you. We're meant to be behaving ourselves in public and that story isn't going to help." She held out her hand to him. "Come on, we have to go."

"That only makes me more curious now," said Oliver, taking her hand and reluctantly walking out of the alleyway back onto the sidewalk so they could continue walking back to his bike. "And I'd be better at behaving myself around you in public if I didn't have to control myself around you all day at work." He shot her a vaguely disgruntled look. "Remind me again why I'm not allowed to touch you at the office?"

"You can hear your own question, right?" asked Felicity wryly.

"I just mean being able to hold your hand, a kiss here or there," argued Oliver. "The complete ban on anything physical when we spend ten hours together has me kind of pent up by the time we leave the office." Oliver sent her a quick, teasing look. "Explosions are bound to happen because of it."

"We're not groping each other at the office," said Felicity firmly. "You remember our walls are literally made of glass, don't you? It's a place of business and we both need to be taken seriously."

"Sure you wouldn't rather just be seriously taken?" asked Oliver innocently.

Felicity couldn't help but burst out laughing at his mischievous play on words. "No," she laughed, slapping his arm, "and stop it. We're taking this slowly, remember?"

"I remember how good it felt to finally have you in my arms again tonight," said Oliver, seemingly determined to be unhelpful with keeping things under control between them. "I remember how much I'm addicted to the taste of you in my mouth."

Felicity stumbled a little bit, feet forgetting how to walk at Oliver's forthrightness. His hand was immediately around her waist, steadying her. "Careful," he said huskily, "I want you in one piece." Oliver smiled down at her warmly. "One delectable, luscious piece," he finished off throatily.

"Stop being charming, it doesn't work on me," said Felicity primly, even as her heart skipped more than one beat at his Oliver's warm looks.

Oliver gave a roguish smile. "Guess I'll have to try harder than," he said impishly.

Felicity pulled a face, not sure she would be able to handle that. "Lair, debrief and then maybe dinner," said Felicity firmly and then held up an imperious finger to him as Oliver opened his mouth to respond. "And no sexy turnaround about looking forward to debriefing me or me being on the menu or any other sexy talk, got it, mister? Best behavior."

Oliver's smile widened into a grin at her attempts to keep control of the situation. "Did I ever tell you that I find it incredibly arousing when you tell me what to do?"

"Funny, because normally you yell at me," she said laconically.

"Not my first instinct," said Oliver candidly. Despite his mask, Felicity was able to see a particularly roguish look cross Oliver's features. "Want to know what my first instinct is?"

Felicity really, really did but she was pretty sure that wasn't going to help her keep control of the situation. "No," she said, but avoided eye contact.

Oliver's lips were against her ear as they walked along. "Another lie. I feel like I should punish you." He cast her a quick look, eyes twinkling. "I have more than a few ideas on that front."

"I bet you do," said Felicity wryly, "but you're going to keep them and everything else to yourself on the way back to the lair."

"And after we leave the lair?" asked Oliver hopefully as they arrived at his Ducati. He handed her a helmet.

Felicity gave a little shrug as she took it. "Well, it is Halloween," she said, trying not to smile. "Everyone knows anything can happen on Halloween."

Oliver grinned. "Suddenly this just became my favorite holiday." He climbed on the bike and put his helmet on. "Hold on tight. I don't want to lose you on the corners."

Felicity put her own helmet on and climbed onto the back of the bike and did exactly as she was told, wrapping her arms around Oliver's waist tightly, knowing even as she did there was no way he was going to lose her. She was stuck on this man and that was never going to change, no matter how many corners came their way. Felicity couldn't help but smile at that thought as Oliver pulled away from the curb.

Life didn't get much better than this…

**A/N****: Okay, so, we're off and running. What did you think – loved it, hated it, no clue where I'm going with this? All good points. I will say I'm introducing a new character in the next chapter by way of a heads up. Her/his name is Ladybug. Make of that what you will. The first person to guess the who/what/where or why of Ladybug wins one of Auntie Lou's special imaginary prizes. This time round it's a one-size fits all mankini… for yourself or that someone special in your life. It's a gift that keeps on giving and is always a conversation starter. Hope I'll see you all in the next chapter. Thanks, as always, for reading. :D Not sure when the next chapter will be. Depends how much interest there is, I guess and if you want to pace yourself. Let me know. 3**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N****: Wow, such a response to my first chapter. How awesome are you guys? **_**This**_** awesome, that's how much (I'm holding my arms way apart, in case you're wondering). **

**Basically this fic (all 5 chapters of it) is very self-indulgent. I just like having my guys talking, talking, talking. Can't help it. You know what a dialog ho I am and well, it's mainly talking with an afterthought of Halloween. Lol But I'm guessing you've worked that out by now. **

**Just a by the by but the G20 summit has been held in my home state – Queensland – this weekend so all the world leaders are in my old home town – Brisbane. We put on a record breaking heat wave for the leaders. Sorry about that guys/gals. It's the weather, what are you gonna do, right? Thanks for coming and everyone gets a koala… just a heads up, most of them are riddled with chlamydia… you may want to wash your hands well before preparing food, just sayin'. The more you know…**

**Okay, enough of a PSA from me re: koalas. **

**Got an early start tomorrow – have to get up at 330am, so doing a lot of prep tonight so I can just roll out of bed and head out to work. Not a fan of going from the nightshifts into the morning shifts. My body doesn't know whether it's coming or going. Sigh, they old grey mare ain't what she used to be. Anyways, enough lamenting of my lost youthful vibrancy. I'll let you get on with this chapter. Lots of good guesses about Ladybug – had fun reading them all. :D All will be revealed in this chapter… well, not all, much to Bunny's disappointment. ;) **

**Have fun and thank you so much for such a lovely reception to the first chapter. You really are all too fabulous for words. 3**

**CHAPTER TWO**

"Can I just say that you have some of the longest shortcuts known to man," said Felicity, smoothing down her hair after taking her bike helmet off. "I thought we were going to end up in New Jersey."

"It was my regular route back to the Foundry," said Oliver innocently. It absolutely wasn't but having Felicity on the bike behind him, pressed up against him, legs on either side of his thighs… well, it had been too good to rush. So, Oliver had found a creative route back to the lair. He waited until Felicity had walked around from the other side of the bike and took her hand. Oliver liked the simple intimacy. It made it feel real to him that they were actually happening and it wasn't just him dreaming. It'd hadn't even been a week since their big date but Oliver couldn't remember ever having been this happy. Felicity gave him a shy smile as he smiled down at her and Oliver couldn't help but adore how she oscillated between blushing innocent and teasing enchantress. Both were absolutely Felicity and the fact that she could be both just added to the paradox that was the woman walking beside him. She was fragile yet strong, delicate but fierce and Oliver couldn't get enough of her. "What do want to do tonight after the debrief?" he asked her huskily. Oliver managed to tear his eyes off her long enough to open the alleyway entrance door to the lair, punching in the code.

"Well, first I just want to make sure Bunny is settled in okay," said Felicity.

Oliver made a face. "He shouldn't be settling in at all. This is just temporary."

"I know," said Felicity quickly, "but earlier today I just helped him out with a couple of little things—"

They were walking and talking at the same time and Oliver walked through the door, his attention on Felicity. She looked suddenly a little anxious.

"Well, I say little…"

Oliver followed her gaze and was just in time to see a huge, black, shaggy mass launch itself at him. Oliver staggered back at the sudden weight of a giant dog giving him an enthusiastic greeting, putting its paws on Oliver's shoulders and licking his face. "What the hell?" he exclaimed in shock.

"Ladybug, get down," said Felicity urgently. She sent Oliver an apologetic smile. "Sorry, he's big on hello's."

"Why is there a dog currently drooling all over me?" asked Oliver unevenly as he looked back at the animal, taking in the fact that on its hind legs, it was actually taller than him. "Assuming this is a dog, of course and not a horse."

"He's a dog," said Felicity swiftly, hurrying over and trying to help. "Ladybug, get down, _down_." The dog removed its paws from Oliver's shoulders and did as Felicity had requested. On all fours it was still impressively tall, coming up to Oliver's waist. "He's a Newfoundland," Felicity introduced them. "They're kinda big."

"Are you sure it isn't a couple of dogs strapped together?" asked Oliver, tilting his head and taking in the vast size of the dog with its shaggy, black coat and giant head with lolling tongue.

"No, it's just the one dog."

"Named Ladybug," said Oliver skeptically.

"Yes."

"I'm going to go ahead and assume that he came with our new houseguest and you just didn't decide we needed a team mascot all of a sudden?" said Oliver in resignation.

Felicity wrinkled her nose. "A little bit, yes."

"He comes with a dog," said Oliver in disbelief and then gave Felicity a vaguely accusatory look. "Which you knew about."

Felicity gave had the grace to look a little chagrined. "I picked him up earlier."

"So, what?" asked Oliver in frustration as the Bunny situation continued to spiral out of his control. "Was the boob thing an attempt to soften me up about the dog thing?"

Felicity arched an eyebrow at him. "If it was, it didn't work because I don't remember anything softening when you were touching my boob."

Oliver swallowed a groan, instantly transported back to that alleyway when Felicity had caught him off guard with putting his hand on her breast. She was right. There had definitely not been anything soft on his body when she'd done that. "Why are you trying to kill me?" he asked, only half-joking.

"It's just a dog," said Felicity. "He and Bunny can't be separated."

"This was not discussed in the initial concept of Bunny staying here," said Oliver in frustration. "This is all getting out of hand." Suddenly Ladybug was shoving his enormous head in Oliver's crotch and sniffing noisily before releasing a great gust of warm, doggy breath in that area.

Felicity gave him a bright, vaguely apologetic smile. "That's also how he says hello," she said, "and that he likes you."

"Could he like me with his head out of my crotch?" asked Oliver flatly, pushing on the dogs head. "Stop that."

"He can," said Felicity, lips twitching as Ladybug defied Oliver's best efforts to get the dog to give a little less attention to his crotch, "but it doesn't seem like it's going to happen."

"That's how you know he likes you," said a voice behind them cheerily.

Oliver turned his head to see Bunny emerging from the back room after having obviously just taken a shower. He was in a fluffy, pale grey robe and slippers with a towel wrapped around his head.

"I told him that," said Felicity quickly.

"It's also how you know I like you too," said Bunny, giving Oliver a cheeky wink as he breezed by. "Poppet, where's the hairdryer?"

"We don't have a hairdryer," said Oliver irritably. "This is a place of business… _serious_ business. It's not a beauty salon."

"It's in the second bag by the bench over there," said Felicity.

Oliver looked at her in disbelief. "What?"

"I told you, I picked up a few things for Bunny so he'd be more comfortable here," said Felicity.

"I don't want him to be more comfortable here," said Oliver in distress. "I want him to leave."

"Oh monkey, try and unclench something on that deliciously hard body of yours," said Bunny easily as he retrieved the hairdryer. "You'll give yourself an ulcer at this rate." He strolled back towards them. "How was your little thingy tonight?"

"You mean where we risked our lives and saved thousands of other people's lives?" asked Oliver flatly.

"Yes, that's the one," said Bunny brightly. "Went well then did it?"

"We shut them down," said Felicity proudly. "Nobody died. It was a good outcome."

"Oh congrats, my darlings," said Bunny happily. "Aren't you all just clever little crusaders." He looked at Felicity. "Poppet, did you remember my skin care products?"

"White bag," she said. "They didn't have the moisturizer you liked but there is a new one out that the woman in the shop promised me was even better."

"Oh darling, you are a treasure," said Bunny gratefully. "I'd be simply lost without you." He gave Oliver a pointed look. "You do realize that I'm going to have to do my best to steal her away from you now, monkey? I've decided that I simply can't live without a Felicity Smoak in my life and as there is clearly only one of her on this entire planet, I'll be taking yours."

"The hell you will," growled Oliver.

"Ohh… so territorial," laughed Bunny. "You're making me all tingly again."

"Bunny's just teasing you, Oliver," said Felicity, half-smiling as she put a hand on Oliver's arm. "There is enough of me to go around."

Oliver scowled, not liking the sound of that. He didn't want to share Felicity with anyone. Maybe he'd feel differently once their three weeks of trial dating was up and Felicity had actually told him she loved him properly but until then Oliver couldn't help but feel intensely proprietary when it came to Felicity's time and attention. He knew it wasn't a particularly noble trait to have and he was working on trying to be more reasonable when it came to Felicity but the simple truth was Oliver couldn't get enough of her. Sharing Felicity with anyone else felt like a big ask.

"Don't pout," she ordered him, still looking amused by his displeasure.

"I'm not pouting," he argued. "I'm expressing my valid reservations about letting someone we don't know into our lives. It's a sensible reaction."

"Give it up, monkey," suggested Bunny easily as he brushed out his hair. "I'm here, it's happened, you're just going to have to embrace the Bunny experience."

Felicity giggled. "Oliver's not great with new experiences."

He scowled at that. "Yes I am."

"You're a little bit control freakish," said Felicity, not unkindly. "It's fine. It's who you are."

"I'm not a control freak," said Oliver sharply. "I have a completely normal and rational relationship with control." He pointed a finger at Bunny as the other man went to sit down. "Hey no, that's _my_ chair."

"Oh yes, completely normal and rational," said Bunny in amusement, taking a seat anyways.

Oliver grimaced as the other man's robe came open a little as he sat down. "Are you naked under that thing?"

Bunny fluttered his eyelashes at him. "Who wants to know?"

"Put some pants on," said Oliver tersely.

"I would, darling, but I'm waiting for them to dry." He gave Oliver an expectant look. "Unless you want to provide a dryer to your facilities, of course."

Oliver sighed heavily.

"Oliver?" said Felicity.

"I'm giving it serious thought," he gave a quick glance at Bunny who was still lounging rather provocatively, "considering the alternative."

"If it makes you feel any better, you can take your pants off," said Bunny brightly. "That'd be the polite thing to do, you know, to make your houseguest feel welcome."

Felicity nudged him playfully. "How about it, Oliver, want to take your pants off?"

"I imagined you saying those words to me under such different circumstances," said Oliver morosely.

Felicity just laughed at his disappointment. The door above them opened and closed and then Roy was walking down the stairs, two boxes of pizza balanced on one hand.

"We said we didn't want any pizza," noted Felicity.

"I know, they're both for me," said Roy as he got to the bottom of the stairs. "I'm always starving after a mission." He glanced at Bunny and grimaced. "Hey, man, want to close the drapes a little there?"

Bunny arched a provocative eyebrow at him. "Like what you see, kitten?"

"Can I at least take my jacket off before you start the sexual harassment?" asked Roy in resignation as he put down the two pizza boxes. "And in case you're wondering, the answer to your question is a 'hell no!'"

"Me thinks my little kitten doth protest too much," said Bunny knowingly.

"No such thing when it comes to getting an eyeful of your man junk," said Roy firmly. He looked over and noticed Ladybug for the first time. Roy walked over to the large dog and bent down so his face was level with the Newfoundland's. "Diggle, is that you?" He shook his head with feigned admiration. "Wow, man, I've got to hand it to you, that's some costume."

"That's not Diggle," said Felicity in amusement at Roy's teasing, "obviously."

Roy straightened up. "You sure, because they're roughly the same size." Ladybug then shoved his face in Roy's crotch and noisily sniffed away. Roy pulled a face. "Okay, now I really hope it isn't Diggle because it just got weird." He pushed Ladybug's face out of his crotch and looked over at Bunny. "Yours, I assume?"

"Ladybug is my constant companion," agreed Bunny readily. "We're inseparable."

"So did he teach you the crotch thing or did you teach him?" asked Roy dryly. "It's pretty much how both of you say hello."

Bunny chuckled. "I love how you know my ways so well, kitten."

"Not through choice," muttered Roy. He looked the dog over. "So, Ladybug, huh? And he's a dude… what's up with that?"

"Not all ladybugs are females," pointed out Bunny pragmatically.

Roy wrinkled his nose. "I guess not… never really thought about it before but it's a pretty delicate name for, you know, a not so delicate dog."

"It's good luck when a ladybug lands on you," said Bunny. "I was looking at a litter of puppies and Ladybug just threw himself on me… so, it was good luck. The name just seemed obvious."

"An obvious name for a dog this size is Bear or Tank or something, not Ladybug," said Roy.

"Ladybug is secure in his masculinity," said Bunny dismissively. "He doesn't need an overtly butch name to reinforce his maleness."

"Just as well," muttered Roy. He looked around. "So, what, we're still waiting on the big guy then?"

Felicity nodded. "Looks like." She looked at Bunny. "How was the shower?"

"Divine, my clever little minx," said Bunny happily. "You do spoil me."

"Wait, why is Felicity clever?" asked Oliver sharply.

Felicity put her hands on her hips. "Two and a half years in and you don't know the answer to that question?"

"I mean_ I_ know why you're clever," said Oliver in frustration. "I want to know why Bunny knows you're clever."

"Poppet organized hot water for the shower," said Bunny calmly.

"Hold on, you could do that?" said Oliver in amazement.

"Yeah, just had to do some jiggery pokery with realigning some of the water pipe flows," said Felicity. "Mainly pokery… the jiggery was pretty much done because there was already a hot water system set up, just not in use."

"Ohh… the pokery has always been my favorite part," said Bunny approvingly.

"Why didn't you organize hot water for me when I shower?" asked Oliver unevenly.

Felicity looked at him blankly. "You never asked." She gave a little shrug. "I just figured you liked the cold showers – part of your guerilla training and all."

"No, I had enough of those on the island," said Oliver, not believing what he was hearing. "I'd have appreciated hot water here."

"I'm not a mind reader, you have to tell me these things," pointed out Felicity.

"I didn't know plumbing was in your skill set," said Oliver in amazement.

"Me either until I tried," said Felicity blithely. "Turns out I really am as clever as I thought I was." She tilted her head. "Is that conceited of me to say? That feels conceited."

"It's no such thing if you are actually brilliant, poppet, which quite clearly you are," insisted Bunny without hesitation. "No good ever came of hiding your light under a bushel. You always have to let your magnificence shine, it's my mantra in life."

"Is there a way you could try and put pants on your magnificence?" asked Roy unhappily as Bunny's robe parted again. "I'm about to eat, I really don't need baby Bunny watching me while I do."

Bunny adjusted his robe. "Kit."

"What?"

"A baby bunny is called a kit," replied Bunny, giving Roy a flirty look. "It's short for kitten… quite the coincidence don't you think, my little kitten? It really is like fate between us."

"That's a reach, even for you," said Roy with a note of censure in his voice.

"Darling, trust me, my reach is the stuff of legends." Bunny waggled his eyebrows at Roy suggestively. "Want me to show you?"

"No," said Roy tightly.

"Your mouth says no, but your eyes say take me now," purred Bunny, standing up and sauntering over to him.

"I'm pretty sure they don't," said Roy hastily.

"I don't know, Roy," said Felicity teasingly. "Your eyebrows seem pretty confused to me."

"Don't you start," said Roy in agitation. He looked at Oliver. "Rein your woman in, man. I don't need to be ganged up on."

"Firstly, Felicity is her own person and as she has pointed out on many occasions, I'm not the boss of her," said Oliver straight-faced. "And secondly, if I had some way of getting Felicity to do what I want, I'd be using those powers for my benefit, not yours." He turned his head to see Felicity was looking at him oddly. "What?"

"I'm trying to work out if that was adorably honest or if I should hit you for being a jerk," said Felicity slowly.

"Can I put a vote in for the adorable one?" asked Oliver hopefully.

"No." She arched a pointed eyebrow at him. "And we both know that if I didn't argue with you, you wouldn't like me as much."

"It's true," sighed Oliver. "It's quite the conundrum for me—ow!" He rubbed his arm where Felicity had slapped him.

"I made up my mind, I went with the hitting thing," said Felicity evenly.

"I noticed," said Oliver wryly. "That really hurt."

Felicity snorted. "No, it didn't. Your arm is like concrete."

She was right, it hadn't hurt but Oliver was still looking to play his advantage. "No, it was really painful." His lips twitched. "I think you should kiss it better."

"Stand back," ordered Bunny with a dramatic sweeping motion of his arms, "this is a job for Bunny!"

"Okay, no," said Oliver, hastily putting up a hand, "the suggestion was for Felicity only."

"You'd better take Bunny up on his offer," said Felicity in amusement, "because it's not happening with me. You totally deserved that slap."

"Come here, boo," said Bunny sympathetically, "Auntie Bunny will kiss it better—" He went to move closer to Oliver and that was when the lights suddenly went out and they were all plunged into total darkness.

Oliver heard Felicity give a little gasp of surprise. "Oh, we've lost power."

Oliver was tense. Blackouts happened before ambushes. "Is it just us or is it this part of town?"

"Wait, I'll try and find out." There was the sound of people moving around and then furniture being kicked. "Ow."

"Felicity?" said Oliver in concern.

"It's okay, just ran into a chair."

"Hey, that better be you grabbing my ass, Felicity," said Roy sharply.

"It better not be," said Oliver loudly.

"I'm not touching anyone's ass." More sounds of her fumbling about. "I don't think."

Oliver moved towards the sound of her voice. "Be careful. You'll hurt yourself."

"Bunny, let go of my ass," said Roy sternly.

"Of course, kitten."

"Hey, no! Don't grab that instead!"

"I get all dizzy in the dark. I need something firm to hold onto," lamented Bunny.

There was the sound of slapping. "Trust me, that is never going to be firm in your presence. No touching!"

Oliver ignored the antics of the other two men, intent on finding Felicity and then he heard another crash and the sound of someone falling. "Felicity!" he moved quickly towards the sound.

"Oh poppet," said Bunny worriedly, "do be careful, my darling."

"I'm okay," she said breathlessly. "Just tripped over something. I've lost my glasses… which I guess doesn't really matter considering the circumstances—"

There was suddenly the sound of crunching glass and Oliver froze on his way over to her. "Damn it."

"Was that my glasses?" asked Felicity in resignation.

Oliver lifted his foot to the sound of more tinkling glass. "Yeah, I think so. Sorry. Here, take my hand." He held out his hand blindly to the direction of where he'd heard Felicity's voice, waving it around. Oliver made contact with a soft hand and closed his fingers around it, giving her a reassuring squeeze. "I've got you."

"Yes, you have," said Bunny approvingly, squeezing his hand back.

Oliver made a sound of exasperation and let go of his hand. "Damn it, Bunny, you're everywhere. I was looking for Felicity."

"Any port in a storm, monkey."

"Just go and stand out of the way and don't move and don't touch anything, okay?" Oliver ordered him.

"I love it when you try and dominate me," said Bunny huskily. "It makes me quiver all over."

"Just quiver quietly," said Oliver sternly. "And no more groping, got it?"

"I'll try, but I can't promise anything."

Oliver could hear Felicity moving around. "Wait, I'll help you up," he said quickly.

"No, it's okay, I think I've got it," she said unsteadily. "I just need to make it to my desk."

"Okay, Ladybug, no," said Roy sternly. "My crotch isn't for your amusement."

"Oh, sorry," said Felicity in embarrassment. "I didn't know what I just ran into."

"What?" asked Oliver sharply.

"Here, grab hold," said Roy.

"No, no," said Oliver in agitation, "there is to be no grabbing!"

"I'm helping her up, man," said Roy defensively.

"That's my boob, Roy," said Felicity dryly.

"Oops, sorry, I thought that was your shoulder."

Oliver's jaw hardened.

"That's my other boob."

"Stop touching her!" barked out Oliver.

"I'm helping!" protested Roy.

"Helping yourself more like it," growled Oliver. He'd just managed to get to second base with Felicity tonight for the first time and Roy had already covered twice the distance he had. _Unacceptable_.

"Okay, I'm up," said Felicity unevenly. "Oh!"

"What is it?" Oliver demanded to know. "What's Roy groped on you now?"

"I'm not groping," said Roy sharply. "And it doesn't count if you can't see what you're grabbing. All the fun goes out of it." He paused. "Well, not _all_ the fun."

"Oh kitten," sighed Bunny, "it's like you _want_ to die."

"Bunny's right, when the lights come on, you're a dead man," bit out Oliver.

"Everyone just stop," said Felicity sternly. "Roy, stop trying to help me and Oliver, stop overreacting. My 'oh' was about me just realizing something."

"What's that, poppet?"

Suddenly there was a glow in the middle of the room and Felicity was illuminated. "My phone has a flashlight function," she said, sounding a little sheepish. "I don't know why I didn't think about that first."

"Oh, so does mine," said Roy suddenly, reaching into his coat and pulling out his phone. "No service though."

"Mine either," said Felicity, using her phone to find a safe passage over to her desk. "Looks like everything has been taken out, power, communication systems."

Oliver was back to being worried they were under attack. "Do you think we've been targeted?" he asked intently.

"No," said Felicity slowly, still trying to get her computer system to work, "I think it's citywide." She turned around and pursed her lips. "Which presents us with a bit of a problem."

"Which is?" asked Oliver.

"We can't get out," said Felicity. "The locks on our doors are electric and without any power, they just stay locked, unless someone opens them from the outside."

"No problem," said Oliver easily. "Diggle will be here soon and he'll open the doors for us."

"Diggle will do what now?"

Felicity and Roy held up their phones to illuminate Diggle walking out of the back room in a smart, black suit and thin black tie.

"What are you doing here?" asked Roy in dismay. "You were meant to let us out of here."

"I got back first and changed into my costume," said Diggle calmly.

"I didn't hear you," said Bunny in surprise.

"You were singing very loudly in the shower," said Diggle dryly. "You wouldn't have heard Armageddon."

"I do love my show tunes when I'm all lathered up," agreed Bunny readily.

Ladybug walked over to Diggle and sat down beside him as Diggle patted the top of his head.

"How come you're not getting the Ladybug special hello?" asked Roy in irritation. "Oliver and I practically had to crowbar him out of our crotches."

"We came to an understanding," said Diggle evenly, scratching behind the dog's ears as Ladybug made a happy little noise.

"Which was?"

"Between Ladybug and myself." Ladybug looked up at Diggle adoringly, leaning up against him.

"Wow," said Felicity with a smile, "he's really enjoying that. I'll have to get you to scratch behind my ears, Digg. It looks like you know what you're doing."

Oliver looked at her, trying not to be bothered by Felicity's offhand comment. Why wasn't she asking him to scratch behind her ears? Oliver could hear how manic that question sounded in his own head so he bit down on his tongue but the faint strands of jealousy remained. He had to wonder if he'd ever get over feeling this way when Felicity showed any kind of attention to other men.

Roy shone his cell phone light up and down Diggle as Diggle gave Ladybug a final pat on the head and then continued to walk towards them. "_That's_ your Halloween costume? So, you're basically going as yourself?"

"I'm going as an MIB agent," said Diggle calmly.

"And you look very handsome," said Felicity approvingly. "Lyla is going to love it."

Roy rolled his eyes. "Geez, not exactly going against type there." He reached out a hand to pull on Diggle's tie. "You could have least gone as a zombie MIB—arrrgghhh!" Roy made a strangled screeching sound as a creature suddenly launched itself from Diggle's chest, all fangs and dripping blood.

"A MIB agent that an alien has laid her young in," continued on Diggle smoothly, smirking at the shock the hidden part of his costume had given the younger man.

Oliver couldn't help but join in with the laughter of Felicity and Bunny. The expression on Roy's face was priceless.

"Okay, that isn't funny," scowled Roy, regaining his composure.

"It totally was," said Felicity in amusement. "You nearly wet your pants."

"So sue me if I don't like big, wet, slimy things shooting out of another man's body at me," said Roy sulkily.

"Not me," sighed Bunny happily. "That's pretty much my raison d'être."

Oliver rolled his eyes. "Of course it is."

Felicity held her cell phone light closer to the spring loaded prosthetic monster currently dangling from Diggle's chest. "Is it just me, or does this guy look an awful lot like Martha Stewart?"

"That's crazy," said Oliver, taking a step closer and peering at the little creature for himself. He made a surprised face. "Okay, sorry, my bad, it actually does. Weird."

"Maybe Martha upset someone in the design department of the company who makes these things?" suggested Bunny, as he too came for a closer look. "When Biagio da Cesena complained to the Pope about Michelangelo's The Last Judgement in the Sistine Chapel, saying there was too much nudity, and was better suited to be displayed in a pub rather than a church, Michelangelo got his own back. He painted Cesena into the painting as Minos, judge of the Underworld and gave him donkey ears and a snake chewing on his wee willy winkie." Bunny straightened up and tutted. "Never cross an artistic temperament, it's just not worth it."

"I think it's just a weird coincidence," said Felicity. "I can't see Martha Stewart doing anything to upset anyone."

"Except for that whole insider trading snafu," said Bunny knowingly. "That seemed to upset some people."

"I don't have Martha Stewart's face hanging out of my chest," said Diggle firmly. "That's not a thing."

"I don't know, Digg," said Oliver, still eyeing the creature. "You clean off all that blood and gunk and take out the fangs and you've pretty much got a dead ringer."

"Concerns about my costume aside, what's going on with the lights?" asked Diggle.

"Power outage," said Felicity. "They predicted a big thunder and lightning storm for later on tonight. Maybe some lightning took out a power grid."

"Which less than an hour you were in the middle of," said Oliver grimly, not even wanting to think what might have happened if their timing had been different. "If you'd been there—"

Felicity glanced over at him. "But I wasn't and we don't even know that is what happened. Oliver, stop borrowing trouble when it comes to me."

"I can't help it," said Oliver unhappily. "When you're out in the field I feel—"

"Moody," said Roy flatly, obviously still not quite over that last incident between them.

"No, not moody—"

"Distracted," offered up Diggle.

"No, not distracted," said Oliver in irritation.

"Gassy?" suggested Bunny, joining in on the game.

"Gassy, what, no," said a vexed Oliver. "I'm anxious," he managed to finish off as he looked at Felicity. "I like to know you're safe and secure otherwise I—"

"Get gassy," offered up Bunny again.

Oliver gave him an exasperated look. "What is it with you and being gassy?"

"It's the panic response of my body," said Bunny. "I get gassy and burp… a lot."

"Well, it's not my panic response," said Oliver irritably.

"It's just a bit of overkill, Oliver," said Felicity. "If you have to worry, worry about the things which do happen to me, not the things that don't. Trust me, if I didn't do that with you I'd be a complete basket case by now."

Oliver sent her a vaguely apologetic look, reminded yet again how being in his life was no picnic for people but Felicity just smiled back at him, her expression telling him to stop being an idiot and she was just where she wanted to be.

"You two are _so_ adorable together," gushed Bunny, catching their silent conversation. "I just want to have you stuffed and mounted on my mantle to adore every day." He paused and looked thoughtful. "Maybe you should just be holding hands, that'd probably be less confronting."

That earned him a sideways look from Oliver but he chose not to comment. It didn't feel like there was any kind of win for continuing that conversation.

Diggle seemed to have the same thought. "So, moving on, what are our options here?"

"None," said Felicity. "We're stuck in here until the power comes back on."

Diggle grimaced. "I can't even call Lyla to let her know."

"I know," said Felicity unhappily. "Sorry."

"It's not your fault, Felicity," said Diggle firmly.

"I feel like I should have been ahead of this." She pulled a face. "I'm going to have to come up with some kind of emergency release for the locks in the case of power outages for next time."

"How long do you think we'll be down here?" asked Roy. He shrugged. "I guess it doesn't matter for me." He looked at Diggle. "I was pulling Bunny duty anyways while you were out shaking your wild thing."

"What a lovely visual," sighed Bunny happily, looking suddenly dreamy.

"I'd better not be naked as you picture that," said Diggle dryly.

"Of course not, brown bear," said Bunny. He gave a big smile. "You have the cutest little bowtie on."

"Don't ask on where," Roy advised him quickly. "I feel like none of us wants to know the answer to that."

Bunny laughed. "Oh, kitten, I do love your imagination."

"I can't say the same," said Diggle flatly.

"I don't know how long we'll be down here," said Felicity, answering Roy's original question. "It could be hours."

A huge grin split Bunny's face. "You know what this means, don't you?"

"I'm almost afraid to ask," said Oliver in resignation.

"A sleep over!" announced Bunny in delight. "Such fun! We'll eat pizza, sit round the campfire and tell ghost stories. A perfect Halloween night."

"There isn't going to be a campfire—" said Oliver.

"Oh wait." Felicity fiddled with her phone and then she was holding up her screen to reveal a flickering fire on the screen. "Campfire app," she said happily.

"So, what, I have to share my pizzas now?" asked Roy in dismay. "What a rip."

Bunny made a delighted sound and rubbed his hands together. "And let the festivities begin. Who's up first with a tale of terror, eh?"

"You realize we're not all twelve," said Oliver in exasperation.

"Monkey, there is no point to growing up if you can't be childlike on occasion," tutted Bunny. He walked over and took a seat and smiled up at them all. "Let's have a little fun."

"Robe!" said all three men at once.

"Where all friends here," said an unconcerned Bunny but he still drew together his robe which had slipped open again.

"You and I have a different understanding of the word friends," said Diggle wryly.

"And that is something I'd be more than happy to educate you about, darling," said Bunny, fluttering his eyes at him.

"I'm in," said Felicity brightly and then clarified as everyone looked at her. "Ghost stories and pizza. I'm in."

"Hurrah!" said a delighted Bunny. He patted his lap. "Come sit with me, poppet, we'll make each other tingle in terror."

"Okay, no," said Oliver firmly, stepping in between them. "Felicity isn't sitting on your lap."

"There isn't enough chairs for everyone," pointed out Bunny.

"And excuse me, Oliver Queen," said Felicity, "but I don't think I need your permission. I can sit where I please."

"Then please sit on me," countered Oliver determinedly. "I at least have pants on."

"No evening is perfect," lamented Bunny. "But then, it isn't over yet." He winked at Oliver. "Who knows where we might all end up."

Oliver sighed heavily, knowing this wasn't at all how he'd planned his night to end up but then Felicity was slipping her hand into his and his irritation instantly disappeared. She leant against him and smiled up at him and Oliver found him returning her smile on instinct.

"Things might get a little scary tonight," said Felicity teasingly. "Wanna keep me safe?"

Oliver bent his head and rested his forehead against hers. "Always," he said with heartfelt sincerity, looking warmly into her eyes.

"Adorable," announced Bunny from across the room. "Seriously, I've just put on ten pounds from all that sweetness."

Oliver valiantly kept eye contact with Felicity. "I'm just going to go ahead and pretend it's just the two of here tonight. Work with me on that one, okay?"

Felicity's lips were twitching. "I'll try, but I don't think Bunny is that easy to ignore."

"Looks like I have a spare lap going," said Bunny brightly, looking between Roy and Diggle. "Who's up for a soft place for their finely toned bottoms to find a home? Well, I say soft—"

Oliver squeezed his eyes close at Bunny's relentless flirting. "I don't see how any ghost story could be scarier than this scenario. Locked in a room with Flirty McGraberson with no way out."

Felicity giggled. "Poor baby, and you thought you had it tough on the island."

"I've got a story," announced Roy, opening up the pizza box, "and it'll scare the pants off you."

"Yay! I'm in!" said Bunny in delight. "A story with a guaranteed happy ending. What isn't there to love about that?"

"You're not even wearing pants," pointed out Diggle.

"I'm ahead of the game," said Bunny cheerfully. "I'm just waiting for you gentlemen to catch me up."

"This is going to be a long night, isn't it?" asked Oliver in resignation, still only with eyes for Felicity.

She just smiled and wrapped her arms around his waist. "There are worse places to be."

As Felicity laid her head on his chest, Oliver had to agree as he breathed in the subtle scent of her shampoo. There were definitely worse places to be right then, even if they did have an audience.

**A/N****: And in the next chapter we'll finally get to some Halloween stuff. You know, to justify the title, rather than a fic about characters just talking to one another. Lol And now you all know who Ladybug is. Just thought Bunny wouldn't like to travel alone (staff doesn't count) and what better than a giant 70kg dog to cuddle up to at night? ;) That's Bunny for you – bigger is always better. Lol Still on my crazy work schedule and I think I'll be wrecked tomorrow but I'll see how I go with an update tomorrow – no promises though but I'll try. :D **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N****: Ugh, it's hot here! Can't think when it's hot. :( Stupid heat wave. Where is my rain? I don't live in the tropics for my health, you know. It was always on the understanding that there would be rain… and lots of it. This endless sunshine just craps me. **

**But enough about my sweating. You didn't come here for that… I hope. Thank you once again for a brilliant response to the last chapter. I can't tell you how happy it makes me. As mentioned, work is really hard at the moment. Very early starts and I'm doing a very physical shift. Literally everything on my body aches – it's not pretty. Coming home to your kind and funny comments is just amazing. Really gives me something to look forward to… and stay awake for. :D **

***warning, rapid change of subject for no reason* One of my reviewers asked how I knew so much about koalas and chlamydia and yes, there is a story. There are several important things to know about koalas – yes, they're usually covered in chlamydia (particularly their eyes), they're not koala bears, just koalas, Aussies will correct you on that point, they don't usually drink water (get it from the eucalyptus leaves which is all they eat), said eucalyptus leaves give them a similar effect to being stoned. I had a friend in Uni who, during the hiatus, would go and help out on a koala research project for finding a way to vaccinate the koalas against chlamydia. **

**Sounds awesome, right? **

**Well, as it turns out, not so much. What he had to do was basically push koalas out of trees so they could take samples from them. I tell you, that whole mellow, sleepy koala thing they have going on in the tree rapidly disappears when you poke them out of the tree with a big stick. They are pissed! Turns out those big long claws are not just good for climbing trees – they're pretty handy if the koala chooses to disembowel someone. For a vegetarian they can kind of get a blood lust going for them. Needless to say my friend secured more than a few battle scars in the process… but no chlamydia… that he told me about, anyways. **

**So there you go, my koala story… which you can now see why, as close relations, the infamous Drop Bears of the Australia Bush, should be feared by all who might innocently wander onto their territory. These terror inducing creatures are to be avoided at all cost… but they're a horror story for another time… just read up on them before you come over here for a visit – it's always good to have a plan in the event of an attack… mine is to scream hysterically and cry a lot while praying for a quick death. I'm not much of a fighter, to be honest. More of a lie there, thinking happy thoughts and waiting for the end. **

**Alright, so now you're all equipped with everything you needed (and didn't need) to know about Koalas and Dropbears, let's crack on with the story, eh? We finally get to the horror part of this story in this installment. Although, I'm pretty sure Oliver, Diggle and Roy probably feel like their living through their own horror story with Bunny's flapping robe. I had fun with this chapter and hope you will too. **

**You read while I go and make some cheese and pickled onion scones (which are awesome and I'm currently addicted to!). Damn you, carbohydrates combined with cheese… why can't I just let you go? . **

**CHAPTER THREE**

"Alright," said Oliver soberly, looking at each person in turn. "So, we're in agreement… one in, all in." He'd changed into his street clothes and was now sitting on the floor on a blanket with multiple pillows scattered around. Felicity was beside him, both of them propped up against the wall, Diggle was across from them and Roy and Bunny were on either side of Diggle. In the middle of the circle was Felicity's cell phone, her campfire app flickering away and casting a low light around them all. Oliver's expression remained very serious. "Everyone eats the pizzas or no one does. There are enough anchovies and garlic on those things to fell a wild rhino. One person couldn't survive down everyone else's breath if they don't eat it too." Everyone nodded, agreeing with terms.

"I'd still like to point out that I'm being ripped off here," complained Roy as everyone reached for a slice of pizza. "I was the one who thought ahead and brought food."

"You didn't think ahead because you didn't know this was going to happen," argued Diggle, taking a bite of his pizza.

"I knew I'd be hungry," reasoned Roy. "That's thinking ahead."

Felicity picked off her anchovies and fed them to a waiting Ladybug who was leaning up against her.

"You don't like anchovies?" said Oliver in surprise.

"I can't take their accusatory, dead little eyes," said Felicity as Ladybug noisily slurped the tiny fish from her hand.

"You imbue a lot of dead things with feelings," noted Oliver indulgently.

"Anchovies look angry. I don't think you should eat angry things," insisted Felicity.

"I agree, poppet," said Bunny readily. "Angry things are bound to give you indigestion. It just makes sense."

"You're both crazy," said Roy, around a mouthful of anchovy-laden pizza, "anchovies are awesome." Roy eyed Diggle's prosthetic alien which was wobbling from his chest. "Are you going to take that thing off? It's weirding me out with the way it's staring at me."

"It's plastic, Roy," said Diggle calmly. "It's not doing anything." He glanced at his watch.

"Lyla will understand once you explain," said Felicity sympathetically.

Diggle gave her a wry look. "And how am I going to explain having a pizza party in a secret lair with two vigilantes, a computer hacker, an arms dealer on the run and some kind of dog-shaped pony?"

"Talk really fast and then tell her she looks skinny," suggested Felicity seriously.

"Would that work on you?" asked Oliver in amusement. "Just in case, for future reference."

Felicity snorted. "You'll never be able to talk faster than me because you think about everything you're going to say – that's your big problem."

Oliver smiled. "That's not usually considered a problem."

"It is if you're ever planning on out talking me," said Felicity knowingly.

"I'd never try. I know my limitations."

Felicity gave him a self-satisfied nod. "Clever boy." She took a mouthful of her pizza.

Oliver became momentarily mesmerized with watching her eat.

Felicity looked suddenly self-conscious. "What, do I have something on my face?" she rubbed her fingers across her lips.

"Yes," said Oliver, leaning in towards her, "me." He kissed her, tasting the pizza on her lips but mingled with the underlying sweetness which was all Felicity.

"Blech," said Roy loudly. "Can we make a new lair rule – no PDA's in my eye shot." He glanced at Bunny and screwed up his face. "Or exposed genitals. Bunny, robe!"

"Just don't look, kitten," said Bunny easily, as he adjusted his robe.

"I wish it was that easy," grumbled Roy. "Martha Stewart isn't the only thing's gaze which follows me around the room." He balled up a napkin and threw it at the still kissing Oliver and Felicity. "Hey, you two, people are eating here. Nobody wants to see that."

Oliver reluctantly broke the kiss, lips twisting in irritation but Felicity was smiling up at him so it was hard to stay mad.

"I think it's adorable," said Bunny. "Can you imagine how delicious their babies are going to be? I'm going to be the best fairy godmother ever."

"We're not having babies," blurted out a blushing Felicity.

Oliver looked at her in surprise. "We're not?"

Her eyes went wide. "What? Are you being serious?"

"I just kind of assumed you'd want children at some point," said Oliver with a little frown.

"Well… ahh… I do," said Felicity unevenly.

"But you don't just want them with me?" pushed Oliver, looking at her intently.

"This feels like a private moment," said Diggle.

"So much," agreed Bunny readily, a rapt expression on his face. "Speak up, darlings, we don't want to miss anything."

"Not really my point," said Diggle with a roll of his eyes.

Felicity looked flustered now as all eyes were on her. "No, no, that's not it. I just haven't really thought about it."

"Which is normal at this point in your relationship," inserted Diggle supportively. He gave Oliver a pointed look. "Right, Oliver?"

Oliver managed to tear his gaze from Felicity to frown at the other man. "Yes, okay, it's normal." He looked back at Felicity. "Sorry, I know I'm getting a bit ahead of myself considering we're still only trial dating—"

"Is that a thing?" asked Bunny in confusion.

"That's the word on the street," said Roy dryly, onto his second piece of pizza.

Oliver ignored them. "And we haven't really talked about the future future." Although he was just realizing that he had some pretty set ideas about them. Set ideas Felicity clearly didn't share. Oliver's frown deepened. This wasn't good.

She wrinkled her nose at him. "Can we talk about this later?" she asked unevenly.

"Of course," said Oliver quickly, seeing that he'd made her very uneasy. Damn it, so much for always thinking before you spoke.

"As long as I still get to be godmother, that'll be fine," said Bunny, giving them permission.

Felicity blushed again. "Can we all stop talking about babies now, please? Somebody change the subject."

"Why do we have eight throw cushions and five pillows in the lair?" asked Diggle, obliging her request.

"My poppet went out and picked up a few essentials for me seeing as I'll be staying here for however long," explained Bunny.

"How are thirteen pillows essentials?" asked Diggle in bemusement as he looked around at all the cushions they were now currently using to make themselves comfortable.

"I need them all to sleep. That and my Egyptian cotton sheets," said Bunny blithely. "I can't sleep in anything else otherwise I come out in a rash."

"That cannot be true," said Oliver in exasperation.

"It is," insisted Bunny. "I become a weeping pustule if I so much as look at anything less than a 1000 thread count."

"Dude, eating here," complained Roy but that didn't stop him reaching for his third piece of pizza.

"Anyways, it worked out well because now we can all get comfortable to tell our horror stories." Felicity snuggled up to Oliver to prove her point.

Oliver smiled, putting his arm around her as they both leant up against the wall and had to admit, he had no complaints at that particular moment in time.

She looked around at the group. "So, who's up first?" Felicity looked at Roy. "Roy, you said you had one."

"Still eating," said Roy around a mouthful of pizza.

Felicity looked at Oliver next. "How about you, Oliver? Got any ideas for a good ghost story?"

"Well, I did spend five years on a hellish island—" He stopped when everyone groaned and scowled at them. "Oh sorry, is my pain and suffering starting to bore you all?" he asked, a little miffed.

"It's not that," said Felicity quickly. "It's… umm…"

Diggle cut to the chase. "Ghost stories are meant to thrill and entertain while scaring you… not make you want to open a vein with the depressing horror of it all." He arched an eyebrow. "Guess which type your stories about the island are?"

Oliver pouted. "I didn't realize that my island stories were such a burden to you all," he said moodily. "You keep telling me to talk more about it but it seems like I'm boring you all now."

"That isn't how it is, Oliver," said Felicity hastily. "It's just like Diggle said, all of your stories about the island are kind of a bummer."

"That was my life for five years," said Oliver tightly.

Roy rolled his eyes. "We know, man, sucked to be you back then but hey, we're trying to have a little fun here and that's not really your forte."

"I'm fun," protested Oliver in horror. He looked at Felicity. "Tell them I'm fun."

Felicity gave a valiant smile and lifted a hand to stroke his face. "You're so pretty," she cooed, obviously trying to distract him from the subject at hand.

"Seriously?" asked Oliver in distress. "You don't think I'm fun?"

"You're fun," said Felicity, backtracking. "In your own way."

"What does _that_ mean?"

"It means you're as intense as hell and you really haven't gotten the hang of relaxing since getting back from the island," offered up Diggle.

"Don't worry, monkey," said Bunny brightly. "I find intense men very compelling. It adds to your mystique if you ask me. And I don't know about the island, so if you want to tell me stories about it, I'm all ears."

"You'll regret that offer," said Roy, on his next piece of pizza. "All his stories really start with death and destruction and then end with death and destruction… and in the middle, a lot of destruction and death, just to switch things up a bit. You could get more laughs during a prostate exam."

"I thought the point of Halloween stories was to scare people," said Oliver in agitation.

"But in a fun way," said Felicity.

"I can't even believe you like this kind of thing," said Oliver. "You told me once that an Oscar Mayer Weiner ad freaked you out."

"I was very young and singing kids are unnatural and terrifying," said Felicity defensively.

"Wow, Mary Poppins, probably just as well you're holding back on the kids thing," said Roy, chewing loudly.

Oliver glared at him for that comment.

Felicity meanwhile obviously didn't want to revisit the babies conversation and she continued on quickly. "And the whole point of Halloween stories is the same as when it comes to the weather." Everyone was staring at her now after that last comment.

"Darling, I have no idea what that means," said Bunny in delight as Ladybug wandered over to him, seeing as Felicity had run out of anchovies. "But I so want to hear what is going on in that wonderful brain of yours." Ladybug sat down beside Bunny and put his enormous head in Bunny's lap with a noisy huff. "Don't we, Ladybug?" The dog gave a little twitch of his tale, signaling his interest.

For once Oliver agreed with Bunny. Anything that tumbled out of Felicity's brain was a revelation to him. He could never imagine getting enough.

"When people say they like the cold weather, what they really mean is that they like to feel proof against it, you know, like all warm and snuggly while the snow comes down," she explained. "Halloween stories are the same. We love being scared but knowing that we're safe at the same time." Felicity gave a little shrug. "It's the human condition."

"You're so right, poppet," said Bunny approvingly. "Aren't you clever for making that connection?"

Felicity smiled. "I have my moments, I guess." She went to adjust her glasses and then realized with her hand halfway to her face. "Damn, I really need to keep a spare set of glasses here in the lair. You're all fuzzy to me right now."

"You don't need to be able to see, you just have to listen," said Roy, finally having had enough pizza for the moment. "Listen while I horrify you—"

"Why should tonight be any different from any other time," said Diggle, straight-faced.

"Hey, in what way am I horrifying?" said Roy sharply.

"Do I really need to remind you what you looked like in that dress and those boots?" asked Diggle laconically. "And that's before we even get to the wig."

"We said we were never going to talk about that again," said Roy in horror.

Felicity tilted her head and squinted at him. "Why were you dressed as a woman, Roy? Did this have something to do with getting the antidote for Oliver? You two were always fairly hazy on the details with that one."

"I took one for the team," said Roy unhappily. "That's all anyone needs to know." He gave Diggle a sharp look. "Right?" Diggle just shrugged.

"Oh, I can't tell you how many of my stories started with 'I took one for the team'," said Bunny brightly.

"A lot?" guessed Felicity in amusement.

Bunny winked at her. "A _lot_ lot."

"Okay, everyone stop talking but me," said Roy in frustration. "I've got a horror story and it's real—"

"My island stories are real," grumbled Oliver, still a little put out.

Felicity patted his leg. "We know, honey, but you're just going to have to build a bridge and get over it."

"You know I actually built a bridge on the island once," said Oliver.

"Ugh, we get it," said Roy in annoyance. "You're a Swiss army knife of awesomeness who can do anything. Can I tell my story now?"

"We're all braced accordingly to be thrilled and titillated by you, kitten," said Bunny encouragingly. He gave the younger man a coquettish look from underneath his eyelashes. "A state I'm always in around you, just for future reference." He fluttered his eyelashes at Roy. "In case you ever find yourself at a loose end."

"My end is never going to be that loose," vowed Roy vehemently.

"Well, not at the beginning at least," said Bunny teasingly.

Diggle actually started to laugh at that, particularly at the level of horror on Roy's face at Bunny's risqué comment. Oliver found him joining in with the other man.

"And that goes for you, monkey and you too, brown bear," said Bunny huskily. "Think of me as always being at your beck and call… particularly your beck."

Now Felicity was laughing as the other two men stopped.

"Yeah, not so funny when he's offering to loosen your end, now is it?" asked Roy moodily.

"It's still funny," said Felicity with a smirk. "Trust me, it's still really, really funny."

Oliver shook his head and attempted to rein things back in. "Look, none of us came here to be sexually harassed—"

"Speak for yourself," said Bunny indignantly. "It's been my fondest wish as soon as I laid eyes on each and every one of you."

"I'll go ahead and assume I'm not included in that generalization," said Felicity in amusement.

"Darling, if I was ever going to turn, I'd turn for you," said Bunny candidly. "You have a derriere the likes of which would turn any man's head and that sweet face of yours, with those totally kissable lips and not to forget those pertly delicious breasts of yours. Poppet, I'd totally make out with you in a heartbeat." He winked at her. "Just a warning though, I do tend to get very handsie."

"Like that's a newsflash," muttered Roy.

"You're not making out with Felicity," said Oliver sharply. "What kind of gay man wants to kiss a woman?"

"One who enjoys kissing soft lips," said Bunny blithely. "I try not to limit my experiences in life. I find it makes it more fun that way."

"Well, you're not having any fun with Felicity," said Oliver possessively.

"That's right," said Diggle, reaching for another slice of pizza. "If anyone is going to not have fun with Felicity, it's going to be Oliver."

"I'm fun!" he practically shouted.

"Calm down, Oliver," Felicity laughed. "Digg is just teasing you. You're fun and Bunny and I probably aren't going to make out."

"Probably?" squeaked Oliver in distress.

"Everyone stop talking!" Roy ordered them yet again. "I'm telling my freaking story, got it?"

"You go ahead, kitten, we're all ears."

"Thank you," said Roy firmly. "Okay, so this story really happened in a street my cousin used to live on."

"What's your cousin's name, honey?" asked Bunny attentively.

"Troy," said Roy distractedly, "but that's not important."

"You have a cousin named Troy?" asked Diggle. He arched an eyebrow. "Roy and Troy, really?"

"Yeah, so?" said Roy defensively. "Troy's got a sister and her name is Joy."

"Roy, Troy and Joy," repeated Diggle. He pursed his lips. "Family get togethers must have been like a Dr Seuss convention."

"Why does everyone keep interrupting me?" asked Roy in frustration.

"Just ignore them," Felicity advised him. "What happened on your cousin's street?"

"There was this young couple who lived a block over. They'd just moved in together and were going to get married."

"When?" asked Bunny curiously.

"What?"

"When were they going to get married?"

"I don't know, it's not important to the story," said an agitated Roy. "All you need to know is that they were young, in love, living together and had a dog."

"Ohh… a dog, did you hear that, Ladybug?" Bunny quickly put his hands over the dog's ears. "Nothing happens to the dog, does it?" he asked in a loud whisper. "Ladybug is very sensitive about that sort of thing."

"Just let me tell my story and you'll find out," said Roy determinedly.

Oliver felt Felicity snuggle into him a little more, putting her head on his chest and couldn't help but smile. He rested his cheek on the top of her head and listened to Roy tell his story, content just to have her in his arms.

"So, this young couple come home one evening…"

"_Explain to me again why we're rushing to get home and couldn't have gone to that new Mexican restaurant?" asked Oliver in mild vexation as Felicity let them into their house. _

"_Because it would have disrupted Ladybug's schedule," said Felicity, walking into the living room to find an agitated looking dog sitting in the middle of the room. "See, he's already upset." _

"_Okay then," said Oliver, closing the door behind them, "explain to me again why you're looking after Ladybug?" _

"_Diggle has moved Bunny to another safe house and it wasn't suitable for Ladybug." Felicity walked up and patted the dog's enormous head. "It's alright, sweetie, Auntie Felicity is here." _

_Ladybug whined a little and pushed against her. _

"_I know, baby, I'm sorry we're late," said Felicity, trying to placate the anxious dog. "Let's go check your schedule and see what we need to do next." She walked into the kitchen, Ladybug close on her heels. Felicity picked up the folder on the kitchen bench and flicked through it. "Okay, 6pm… walk time." She glanced at her watch. "We're eight minutes past. No wonder he's upset." _

"_How can a dog have a schedule?" asked Oliver in confusion. "Or know what time it is for that matter. It's only eight minutes." _

"_Clearly Ladybug does know," reasoned Felicity. "Look at him." _

_Oliver looked down at the giant Newfoundland who did indeed look upset, whining and moving around restlessly. _

"_I'd better get his lead," said Felicity. "It'll be in his suitcase." She went to move towards the bedroom but Ladybug crossed in front of her, staring intently at the little closet by the door which she kept her coats, walking shoes and umbrella in. "No, honey, your suitcase is in the bedroom," she said, pushing against Ladybug's head to get him away from the closet. _

"_Ladybug came with a suitcase?" asked Oliver in disbelief. _

"_Suitcases," Felicity corrected him. "There were three." _

"_I don't believe this," said Oliver unevenly as he walked over and picked up the folder full of instructions left by Bunny. He flipped through them. "Mariah Carey has less demands than this dog." Oliver kept going through the detailed notes. "Hell, the President of the United States has less requirements when he goes somewhere." _

"_It's not a big deal," said Felicity easily. "It's just a few little things that will make Ladybug less anxious about being separated from Bunny." _

_Oliver flicked through to the last page. "It's 128 little things," he said in amazement. "How is that even possible?" _

"_They're all easy things," reasoned Felicity, "and I don't mind. Now, can you change Ladybug's water bowl please. It has to be done three times a day. I'll just find his lead and high visibility jacket." _

"_He's the size of a pony," argued Oliver. "Does he really need a jacket to point that out?" _

"_But he's black and it's hard to see him at night." Felicity shook her head at Oliver as he went to refill the water bowl from the faucet. "Ladybug doesn't drink tap water." _

_Oliver turned around, bowl in hand. "Excuse me?" _

"_He only drinks bottled water. There is a whole stock of it in the fridge. The Swiss stuff, he likes the Swiss brands the best." _

"_Bottled water? Are you being serious right now?" _

"_Ladybug doesn't like tap water," said Felicity, patting the dog's head. "It makes him cough, doesn't it, sweetie?" _

_Ladybug blinked up at her with his big, forlorn eyes and seemed to be agreeing. _

"_This is ridiculous," said Oliver in exasperation. "The dog licks his own balls and yet can't handle a little tap water?" _

"_Tap water makes him cough," insisted Felicity. "Just use the bottled water, okay?" _

_Oliver rolled his eyes as Felicity headed off into the bedroom to find the leads and jacket. "Fine, whatever." As soon as she was gone though, Oliver gave Ladybug a pointed look. "Okay, you're having tap water because you and I both know that coughing thing is a wrought." Oliver filled up the bowl with water from the faucet and then placed the bowl back down in front of Ladybug. The dog eyed the bowl a little skeptically, looking between it and Oliver. Oliver crouched down beside the hesitating animal. "Look, I've been where you are, okay? I was pampered and overprotected and then you know what happened… shipwrecked on an island for five years, that's what happened. And guess what, no one was offering me bottled water and nice, neat schedules." Ladybug looked at him and blinked. "I'm just saying that sometimes it's a good thing to have to toughen up a little bit." He patted the dog's broad back. "We understand each other here, fella?" Ladybug seemed to think about it for a bit and then he was dutifully drinking the bowl of non-bottled water. "See," said Oliver in satisfaction, "the world didn't end, now did it?" He straightened up as Felicity came back into the room, bearing a dog lead and a yellow visibility jacket that would arguably be too big for even him. _

"_All set," said Felicity. "Right, do you want to start dinner while I walk Ladybug?" _

_Oliver frowned. "I don't like the thought of you walking a dog that weighs over seventy kilos." _

"_Why not?" asked a perplexed Felicity. _

"_Because he could drag you into oncoming traffic," said Oliver unhappily. "There is no way you could hold Ladybug if he decided to just take off, not when he weighs so much more than you do." _

_Felicity looked at him in confusion. "Why am I not dropping the lead in this scenario exactly?" _

"_I don't know," said Oliver in agitation, "you got tangled up in it or something." _

_Felicity shook her head at him. "Sometimes you really do borrow trouble when it comes to my safety, Oliver. None of those things are going to happen." _

"_I don't like to take any chances, not when it comes to you," said Oliver determinedly. "I'll walk Ladybug, you start dinner." _

"_How do you feel about omelets?" _

"_Like it'd make my life perfect," said Oliver easily. He walked over and took the lead off Felicity. "We'll be back soon." _

"_It should be a twenty minute walk," she advised him. "According to the notes, no inclines, it's hard on his joints." _

"_I can walk a dog, Felicity," said Oliver with another roll of his eyes. "It'll be fine." He clipped the lead to Ladybug's collar and then gave Felicity a quick kiss on the cheek. "Back in twenty minutes." _

"_Wait, you haven't put his vest on," fretted Felicity. _

"_And I'm not going to," said Oliver determinedly. "I don't want the other dogs laughing at him. It comes down to a matter of male pride." _

"_You're upsetting his routine," worried Felicity as Ladybug dug his heels in and refused to walk with Oliver to the door, planting his backside in front of the closet by the door and refusing to move.. _

"_He'll get over it," said Oliver confidently. "Come on, Ladybug, let's hit the streets, see if we can find you some interesting butts to sniff." _

_Felicity half-smiled. "Once a playboy, always a playboy," she said teasingly. "Don't you let him lead you astray, Ladybug." _

_Oliver smiled at her playful jab about his past. "That's all behind me now," said Oliver, heading out the door and dragging a very reluctant Ladybug with him. "There is only one butt I want to—" He stopped abruptly. "Okay, I'm not going to finish that sentence there because I was going for romantic but feel like it was just going to end up being pretty much the opposite." _

_Felicity laughed. "I get where you were going with it and appreciate the sentiment." She kissed him. "See you soon." _

_Ladybug was still refusing to cooperate, remaining stubbornly seated and starting whine again. _

"_I'm telling you, he won't go without the vest," said Felicity. _

_Oliver gave up. "Fine, we'll put the vest on." _

_Felicity went to retrieve it and then handed it to him. "You right to put it on?" _

"_If I can tie my own bowties, then I can put a vest on a dog," said Oliver. "I just never hoped to have to use that skill set." He made short work of the vest, doing it up while Ladybug stood patiently. Oliver looked at his handiwork and the sight the giant, shaggy dog made in the fluorescent jacket. "Well, I'm not going to lose him, that's for sure." _

"_Good," said Felicity, "because he's my responsibility and I couldn't face telling Bunny that something had happened to him." She smiled at Oliver. "Have fun." _

"_I'm walking a glow in the dark Shetland pony down the street, how can I not?" asked Oliver dryly. _

_Felicity laughed and then was closing the door behind them as Ladybug tried to get back inside. _

"_Lock it!" called out Oliver. "There are a lot of weirdos in your street." _

"_Says the guy walking the day-glo yellow pony," she shot back at him cheekily through the door. "Did I mention that there is a matching vest for the walker as well?_

"_Not in my lifetime," said Oliver flatly and then enjoyed hearing Felicity laugh. He looked down at Ladybug. "Okay, boy, let's do this thing and if anyone gives you any crap about the vest, you have my permission to sit on them." Oliver went to lead Ladybug down the steps of Felicity's front porch but the dog still hesitated, hanging back. "Oh come on," said Oliver, "you're throwing your own schedule out now. We've got twenty minutes, let's try and work up a sweat, okay?" He eventually managed to drag the whining dog down the front steps and then they were walking along the sidewalk. Ladybug trotted by Oliver's side but the dog kept on looking back over his shoulder towards the house. Oliver broke into a trot to try and distract him from the fact they were leaving Felicity behind. "Yeah, I miss her too, boy," he said, jogging along, "but look at it this way, the quicker we walk, the quicker we'll get back to her." Oliver really hoped the dog didn't see the flaw in his logic there but then realized he was worrying over what a dog thought and stopped himself. _

_They jogged along for about five minutes and then Ladybug started to wheeze. Oliver slowed his pace and then came to a halt as the dog began to cough and spluttered. "Okay, seriously?" said Oliver. "You had that tap water ten minutes ago. I'm not buying it, so just give it up, okay?" Ladybug didn't seem inclined to listen as his coughing became worse and now he was making hacking noises, like he was trying to dislodge a lung. Oliver rolled his eyes. "And the Oscar goes to…" He shook his head at the dog. "Are you seriously going to do this?" Ladybug just continued to hack and wheeze, slobbering all over the sidewalk in the process. An older woman walking two fluffy white Maltese terriers walked by, side eying Oliver and the hacking Ladybug. "He's faking it," said Oliver quickly, in defense of the scene they were making. "It was only tap water." The lady didn't comment, just quickened her pace as Ladybug now started to noisily gag. _

_Oliver crouched down beside the heaving dog and patted his back hard, to help with the coughing. "You know this is getting ridiculous now, right?" he asked in exasperation. "I've heard of method acting but this is taking it to the next level—" Oliver stopped abruptly as he noticed the area he was patting on Ladybug's vest was suddenly going dark with some kind of wet stain. He held up his hand closer to his face, seeing the same stain on his hand and needing a closer look in the growing gloom. Oliver's eyes widened as he saw the red stain on his hand. Blood. Was the dog actually hurt somehow? Just then Ladybug gave one particularly violent heave and then he was coughing up something and spitting it out onto the pavement. Oliver's blood ran cold as he looked at the dislodged item lying on the concrete… a man's finger. _

"_Oh god," he rasped, the blood suddenly roaring in his ears as he realized what that meant. "Felicity." Oliver stood up and just bolted back towards the house. He ran faster than he'd ever run before. Fear clutching at him with every step and barely registering Ladybug racing behind him. Oliver covered the distance back to the house in record time. He burst in through the front door, kicking it down. "Felicity!" Oliver could hardly breathe, abject terror was choking him. He looked around, immediately taking in the overturned chairs and broken lamp but what really caught his attention was the message scrawled in dripping blood on the living room wall. _

_YOU SHOULD HAVE LET HER WALK THE DOG_

_Oliver felt like his soul was being ripped out of his body. This couldn't be happening, he wouldn't let this be happening. "FELICITY!" he bellowed, running towards the bedroom of the small house. Blood was smeared all over the handle and door, bloodied footprints of a man's shoe staining the carpet. Oliver clung to some tiny hope that he wasn't too late but as he pushed the door open that hope was lost. Felicity lay on the bed, covered in blood oozing from multiple stab wounds as she stared sightlessly at the ceiling. All Oliver could see was red, it was everywhere as he staggered towards her, picking up her lifeless body and cradling it in his arms. "No… no…. NOOO!" he screamed, burying his face in Felicity's neck, feeling her still warm blood seeping its way into his clothing as he held her to him, refusing to let her go…_

"Wait, so he didn't get there in time?" asked Felicity in distress. "The woman died?"

"Oh yeah, she died," said Roy without hesitation. "Big time dead. The boyfriend went crazy, ended up in a mental asylum." He pulled a face. "Which, I guess you would."

"Did they find the killer?" asked Bunny anxiously.

"Nope, he's still out there somewhere." Roy held up his hands, bending down an index finger. "In all his nine fingered psycho-ness."

"That sounds more like an urban legend than a true story," said Oliver skeptically.

"No, it all happened," insisted Roy.

"What happened to the dog?" worried Bunny.

"I think one of the investigating cops adopted him or something," said Roy.

"Not a bad story," said Diggle, "but I've got a better one."

"Let's hear it first before deciding on whose story is scarier," said Roy. "What's yours about?"

"My story is called 'The Hand of Fate'."

"Ohh," said Bunny appreciatively, "yours has a title."

"I didn't know we had to have titles," said Roy quickly. "Fine, mine was called 'Getting Fingered'." Everyone looked at him, forcing Roy to explain. "It's a play on words, because the dog ended up fingering the guy, you know, pointing out he was in the house the whole time by coughing up an actual finger that he'd bitten off when the guy broke in while the couple was out."

Bunny pursed his lips. "I feel like if you'd opened with that title, by the end of the story I'd be feeling like you did after watching 'The Vagina Monologues, kitten," he said. "I little let down as to where it was all going."

"I know I'd be expecting a different kind of story," agreed Felicity readily and then continued on hastily. "Not that I'm into those kinds of stories, of course." She looked at Diggle. "Okay, John, tell us your story. What's it about?"

"It about no good deed going unpunished," said Diggle. He leant in towards the group, the electronic campfire light from Felicity's phone flickering light on his suddenly serious countenance. "And we'll start in the middle—"

"Nice," said Bunny appreciatively. "Mixing it up a bit."

Diggle inclined his head. "There once was a young man who was living a life of happiness and fulfilment…"

"Why do I feel that isn't going to last," said Roy wryly.

Diggle just half-smiled, fixing him with a knowing look. "Because it doesn't… as the man was about to find out…"

**A/N****: Dun dun dahhhh! What did you think of the first horror story? Did you see it coming? I'm always freaked out by the thought of someone hiding in your house. There is a great series called 'Whitechapel' which covers that concept in one of their seasons. If you haven't checked out this BBC series, and like to be freaked out with atmospheric, careful storytelling, then you should absolutely check it out. Tell them Aunty Lou sent you… and goose Rupert Penry-Jones for me. Hmm, I may be hanging out with Bunny too much with a comment like that. Anyways, two more chapters to go and things are going to get a little dark… accessorize accordingly. ;) **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N****: And I'm back! A little less sweaty, a little more tired, possibly a little shorter. I swear I'm shrinking. Things I used to be able to reach I have to strain to get there nowadays. **

**Anyways, you're not here to listen to me talk about me slowly transmogrifying into a hobbit… wow, transmogrifying is a real word according to my spellcheck. I thought it was a word made up by Calvin and Hobbs – if you don't know the comic you really should, it's great… and I think my nephew is actually some kind of living embodiment of Calvin… scary thought. **

**But yet again, I digress… I wonder if there is a certain point that you digress so much that you go 360 so that your digression actually becomes the point… or I guess, the gress? Hmm… things to ponder. **

**So, this chapter. I'm posting it even though I was going to wait until I've finished Chapter 5 before posting but I've been reliably informed by one of my dear ducklings that the last episode of Arrow has left a need for some fun Olicity and I just couldn't say no. ;) I say embrace the Olicity angst on the show – it just makes them more certain that they're endgame. Remember Arrows mantra – we keep our promises. Why waste all this time telling Oliver's story and how Felicity fits into it just to get to the end and go, meh, just trickin' – never going to happen. If they wanted to deal with Olicity and then move onto Laurliver, they would have had Olicity hook up by now, get it out of Oliver's system and s/l and move on to the ultimate endgame of Laurel. But, they're not doing that. They're doing the slow burn with Olicity – there is a reason for that and it's not just to torture fans. Lol It's the same with my stories – I make you work for it because the journey is the story. SA himself has said that he didn't see them revisting Oliver and Sara or Oliver and Laurel – his exact words – "Those ships have sailed". When Captain Amell puts that out in the universe, I'm not fretting too much about Olicity being the plan and like I said, Arrow is all about Oliver's journey and both Felicity and Laurel are part of that, in different capacities but Laurel informed his past, Felicity is informing his present and future. Felicity is clearly the most important woman in Oliver's life… so, I say, just like with my stories – relax and enjoy the (oft time bumpy ride). ;) My next story for Olicity will have lots of bumps but the lows makes the highs even better, because you had to work for them. **

**And that's the end of my PSA announcement for both the show and my stories. Lol **

**Now, this chapter… well, Diggle's story is a bit darker than Roy's, I'll tell you that. The rest of it, well, I'll just let you read. **

**Hope you'll have fun with it and now I'm off to make crispy prawns and salad… yummy! **

**CHAPTER FOUR**

"_Roy!" There was sound of loud knocking on the door. "Roy, open the door!" _

_Roy remained where he was, curled up on his bed, lying on filthy sheets and ignoring Oliver's demands to be let in. The shutters of his bedroom were all drawn and the room was dark except for where a few rays of sunshine dared to sneak in. Roy stared at one of their beams of light, hating their bright cheerfulness. He didn't want light, he didn't want hope, he just wanted everyone to leave him the hell alone. _

"_Roy! I'm not going anywhere until you talk to me!" More pounding on the door. _

_Roy blinked and then went back to staring with dead eyes at the grubby spot on the wall with the peeling wallpaper. _

"_Roy, we need to talk. This can't go on." _

_Roy sat up, feeling a little light headed. He waited until the feeling had subsided and then he pushed himself off the bed, shuffling out into the living room. Along the way he carelessly kicked grease stained pizza boxes which still had crusts in them, now starting to turn grey with mold. Empty liquor bottles were also sent skittering out of his way as he listlessly made his way to the front door. The whole of his house was dark, every shutter drawn, every mirror smashed. Roy didn't want to see anything, not ever again. He stood in front of the door but made no move to answer it. _

_More knocking. "Roy, I know you're in there. Thea's worried, I'm worried. You have to let someone in. You can't live like this." _

_Then you should have let me die. _

_The words were on the tip of Roy's tongue but they didn't come out. It took too much energy and he had none to spare, certainly not for Oliver Queen._

"_I'm sorry, Roy," said Oliver unhappily. "I did what I thought was right. There was no other choice. I wish there had been because you know I would have taken it. It was the only way to save your life and that was the most important thing." He paused. "You can hate me all you want, I understand but don't shut everyone else out. A lot of people care about you, Roy, let them help you. We're all here for you, whatever you need but you can't just hole up like this and pretend we don't exist. None of us are going to give up on you and we're not going to let you give up either." _

_Roy just stared expressionlessly at the door, unmoved by his one-time mentor's words. Words were easy. You could say anything anytime. Life was the hard part and his life had always been hard and Roy had accepted that, it was fine. He was meant to have a crap existence and die in obscurity and there had been this kind of security in knowing that was going to be his life. But then the Queens had burst into his life and suddenly everything had changed. Being loved like by a woman like Thea Queen was something Roy had never imagined could have happened in his life but it had. It had brought him a happiness he'd never known before. And Oliver had shown him that he could make a difference, be someone important in this world. It had been a revelation and for the first time in his life, Roy had allowed himself to hope. Hope for a better life, a better tomorrow, that he could be worth something in this world. But now everything was different. What the Queens had given him, one had taken away again and the greatest cruelty was now Roy knew that his life could have been so much better. Now that better life was gone. To never know what you were missing out on was one thing but to have had something beautiful and wonderful and then to have it taken away… well, that was just a new level of torture. _

"_I get that I'm probably the last person in the world you want to talk to," said Oliver in frustration. "I get that but you have to talk to someone. Roy, what happened was bad, horrific even and I'm not going to stand here and tell you I know how you feel but I do know you can get past this. Your life isn't over. Let the people who love and care about you show you that."_

_Roy stood there, unmoving. There was a long pause. Finally Oliver spoke. _

"_Okay, fine, I'm going but I'm not giving up. You have to let one of us in, Roy, you just have to. It doesn't matter which one of us it is, it only matters that it happens." There was another pause and then Roy could hear the sound of Oliver's departing footsteps. _

_Once he couldn't hear them anymore, Roy finally moved. He walked over to the door but he didn't open it. Instead he turned around and leant back against it, letting his shaking legs give way as he slid down the door to end up on the ground. Oliver was wrong, he didn't have to do shit. No one could help him, there was no miracle with his name on it. Roy swallowed hard, trying to block the onslaught of memories brought on by the sound of Oliver's voice but it was no use. _

_The mission had been going fine, they had the bad guys on the run until he hadn't seen the man come up behind him. Then he hadn't known anything until he'd come to only to find himself handcuffed to a train track. Roy had called for help, Oliver and Diggle had promised him that they were on their way, that they weren't far away. It was then he'd felt the vibration on the track line. A train was coming. The realization had Roy tugging at his cuff but it was no use. Oliver had gotten to him first. Roy remembered the feeling of relief at seeing the older man. Oliver would know what to do. He always knew what to do. By then the sound of the train was becoming deafening as the train thundered along the track towards them. Roy had looked down the line and seen the lights of the oncoming locomotive and then looked back up at Oliver, knowing he'd have a plan to save him. The look in Oliver's eyes was something Roy would never forget. He saw what Oliver was going to do without the other man saying a word, before he reached for the knife. Roy remembered screaming, telling him he didn't want this, that he'd rather be dead as the train bore down on them. There was the squeal of brakes as the conductor saw them but Roy knew there was no way it was going to stop in time. He was still shouting at Oliver, begging him not to do this and then… then it was all over and his world had changed forever. _

_Roy felt the bile rise in the back of this throat as he reached over with one hand to pull up the sleeve of his hoodie. He slowly pulled back the material to reveal the horror underneath, the thing he'd avoided looking at as much as he could. Where his hand should have been, there was a bloodied bandage, streaked in dirt. He was meant to be going into the clinic to get it cleaned but Roy didn't want to. He didn't want anyone to look at it, didn't want anyone to see him. A kind of perverse need to torture himself had Roy unwrapping the bandage with a shaking hand. As the bandages fell way, the raw and still bleeding nub of his wrist was revealed. The stitches had been removed but the healing was far from complete. Roy stared at the horrific sight with lifeless eyes. Oliver should have just let him die. Death was better than this. _

"What hand was it?" asked Roy around yet another mouthful of pizza.

"What?" said Diggle.

"Which hand was chopped off by the other guy?"

Diggle arched an eyebrow. "Does it matter?"

"It matters," said Roy. "I do more with my right hand than my left. I'd be more bummed to lose one over the other. I do all my favorite things with my right hand."

Bunny gave him a salacious smile. "You don't say. Like what?"

"I don't know," said Roy, suddenly realizing the corner he'd backed himself into, "like writing and stuff."

"You write?" asked Diggle skeptically.

"I sign my name here and there," said Roy defensively.

"And _that's_ one of your favorite thing?" asked Felicity in confusion. "Signing your name?"

"I think our little kitten means he enjoys _signing_ his _name_ with his right hand," said Bunny mischievously.

"I know, he just said… oh," Felicity blushed a little. "Okay, _signing_ your _name_, just got it."

"You can learn to sign your name with your other hand," said a straight-faced Diggle. "It's not a big deal."

"In fact it can be quite fun," said Bunny brightly. "Like being caressed by a familiar stranger."

"That's true," said Felicity guilelessly and earned herself a surprised look from Oliver. She looked a little embarrassed but didn't back down. "I like to sign my name on occasion too. So sue me."

Oliver tried to remember there were other people in the room and not let Felicity know in no uncertain terms that he'd be happy to sign her name any time she liked from now on.

"I love the honesty we have going on here," said Bunny in satisfaction. He raised his hand. "Hi, I'm Bunny and I _love_ to sign my name. The more times the better." Bunny looked over at Oliver. "How about you, monkey?"

"I don't really… ah… sign my name," Oliver confessed and then wasn't sure why he'd felt compelled to share that fact.

Everyone was looking at him in surprise.

"You don't?" asked Felicity, blinking up at him.

Oliver grimaced. "Ah… no… not really." Was it just him or did the room suddenly seem a lot smaller?

"I've never met a dude who didn't like to sign his own name," said Roy in open disbelief. "That can't even be a thing."

"It's not that… it's just that—" Oliver moved a little uncomfortably, very aware of Felicity's presence and trying to be as delicate as he could. "I just never really needed to. There was always someone who… ah… well… could… umm… do it for me." Oliver tried to avoid Felicity's gaze. It wasn't like she wasn't aware of his past but Oliver really didn't like to remind her of it too often.

"Lucky you, darling," said Bunny approvingly. "I guess it's only us mere mortals who have to roll up our sleeves and do some of our own heavy lifting." He paused briefly. "Could everyone just insert their own sexual innuendo thing about the heavy lifting, please? Your Auntie Bunny isn't used to having carbs after seven o'clock. I'm getting all fluffy."

Roy was frowning at Oliver after that revelation. "Wait a minute, what about on the island? You keep telling us how much it sucked, you telling me it didn't blow, even once?"

"I spent most of that time fighting to stay alive," said Oliver in agitation. "I didn't have time to…ah…" he glanced at Felicity and then looked way again quickly, "sign my name all over the place."

"So what, you couldn't find a spare couple of minutes during any of that time?" asked Roy, pushing the matter.

"Wow, a couple of minutes," said Felicity teasingly. "Thea is a lucky girl."

"Hey, when there isn't an audience, you don't need to make it fancy," said Roy unapologetically. "It's a get in and get out kinda situation."

"What about you, brown bear?" asked Bunny, looking at the man with great interest.

"My private time is not up for discussion," said Diggle calmly.

"Damn it," muttered Oliver, "that's what I should have said."

"I wish you had," said Diggle dryly. "There are things about you that I simply don't need to know. Felicity told me all I ever needed to know about your signature."

Oliver looked at her sharply. "You did?" He frowned and lowered his voice. "How? We haven't… ah… I mean—"

"I told Diggle I've been forging your signature," blurted out Felicity. "A lot."

Roy's eyes narrowed. "Wait, what does that mean? I'm lost. I know what signing your name means… what does forging someone else's signature mean?"

"I don't know but it sounds like fun," said Bunny brightly.

Oliver was confused himself. "Felicity, what are we talking about here exactly?"

"I forge your signature," said Felicity, looking a little stricken. She waved a clenched hand around in the air. "You know, your signature, forge."

Roy pulled a face. "That's a pretty interesting technique you've got there. You're lucky the pen doesn't come off in your hand."

"I always thought that was the point of signing your name," noted Bunny absently.

Felicity blushed, looking a little anxious. "No, I mean I literally sign Oliver's name."

Roy made a face. "Ugh, again, too much information about what you two get up to. I don't want to know."

"I write Oliver's name on pieces of paper," said Felicity in exasperation. "I pretend I'm him."

"Whatever turns you on, I guess," said a confused looking Roy. "Like I said, I really don't need the details." He cocked his head. "So what, do you wear the Arrow outfit or the suits when you're pretending to be him?"

"I sign Oliver's name!" said Felicity loudly. "I don't dress up like him."

"Wait," said Oliver slowly, "are you saying you sign my name?"

"Oh my God, are you all mentally deficient?" said Felicity in agitation. "Yes, Oliver, I sign your name, on documents, when you're not around or too busy or too distracted. I sign your name." She stopped talking and bit her bottom lip, looking suddenly worried. "I was going to tell you, I really was." Felicity wrinkled her nose. "Wasn't really planning on shouting it at you though." She sent Diggle a vaguely accusatory look. "Thanks for that, John." Felicity looked back at Oliver. "Are you mad?" she asked uncertainly.

Oliver opened his mouth, then closed it again before finally speaking. "No, I'm not mad… a little surprised but I'm not mad." He was still a little taken aback. "We should probably talk about it later."

"I'll add it to the list," said Felicity unevenly.

"Felicity, I'm not mad," he reassured her. "Just more curious than anything else."

"Is anyone curious about how my story ends?" asked Diggle evenly. "Or are we all just happy to continue talking about metaphors for masturbation?"

"That'd be an awesome name for a band," noted Roy idly. "Metaphors for Masturbation."

Felicity pulled a face. "I don't think I'd like to see that album cover."

Roy inclined his head. "It might have a little trouble getting past the censures."

"No more than Ass Baboons of Venus," observed Felicity and then was forced to explain when everyone looked at her strangely. "I was into a lot of alternative bands in Uni."

"Machine Gun Fellatio," said Roy abruptly. "Australian band, not bad."

"Kiss My Poodles Donkey," chimed in Felicity.

"These cannot be real names of bands," said Oliver in exasperation. "They're crazy."

"I'm just going to keep on telling my story," said Diggle evenly. "You lot can do whatever you like."

"We're listening, Digg," said Felicity quickly. "Just got a little sidetracked."

"Just quickly, which hand was it again?" asked Roy.

"The right hand, the guy lost his right hand," sighed Diggle.

"Okay, got it. What happens next?"

Diggle gave him a steady look. "Nothing good."

_Roy woke from a fitful sleep, not even sure if it was day or night. The insistent buzzing of his phone had him reaching for it but instinct had him doing it with his right hand but there was no hand there to answer the call. Roy's jaw hardened as he retrieved the phone with his left hand and looked at the caller ID flashing up on his screen. Thea. He just stared at her name and picture but didn't answer it. Finally the ringing stopped. Another missed call was added to his tally. He was up to twelve already today. Roy didn't need to listen to any of the voice messages he knew would be waiting for him. They'd all be Thea, pleading with him to let her see him, begging him to not shut her out. Roy didn't want to listen to the pain in her voice. It was too much. He had his own suffering, he couldn't deal with Thea's as well. He loved her but what Oliver had done meant that they could never be together now. All Roy could see when he looked at Thea was not the woman he loved, but the sister of the man who had mutilated him. It wasn't fair, he knew that, but Roy couldn't help it. It was just how he felt and those feelings weren't going away. Unable to help himself, Roy found himself scrolling through pictures of him and Thea. The couple staring back at him in the different pictures looked so happy, hamming it up for the camera, playful and full of life. It felt like a world away now. Roy kept scrolling back though the old pictures, knowing he was going to run out of them soon and knowing he was never going to be adding to them ever again. _

_There was the sound of rustling under the bed. Something was moving around under there. Roy didn't bother to check. Rats had the run of the place nowadays and they came and went as they pleased. There were plenty of pizza crusts and half-eaten hamburgers for them to feast on and at least they weren't looking for some kind of absolution for their guilt or trying to give him a pep talk and that suited Roy just fine. He went to close his phone but then a photo he hadn't seen scrolled across the screen. Roy stopped and frowned. It was a picture of him asleep, a close up, kind of off-centered image. Had Thea taken it without him knowing it before all this horror had started? He quickly looked at the date and realized that it was time stamped as having been taken an hour ago. Roy's frown deepened. How could that be? He'd been alone an hour ago, alone and in a booze addled sleep. He checked the next picture and it was another picture of him, this time from a slightly different angle. Roy's heart began to beat double time in his chest as he scrolled through picture after picture of himself. Who the hell had taken these? What was going on? Who would break into his house and take pictures of him on his cell phone while he was asleep? It didn't make sense. _

_KNOCK. KNOCK._

_The loud knocks at the door had Roy starting violently, already on edge from the photos he couldn't explain. He dropped the phone and then he was fumbling around on the ground to pick it up again, disturbing the rat under his bed at the same time. It darted from its hidey hole and scampered across the grubby carpet out into the living room. Roy caught the movement out of the corner of his eye but didn't care. He had bigger worries. Standing up, he made his way to the door, eyeing it warily. "Who is it?" he called out hoarsely. _

"_It's Felicity." _

_He relaxed at the sound of the young woman's voice. "I don't want you here," said Roy curtly. "Go away." _

"_I'm not going away. You're just going to have to let me in." _

"_Get lost, Felicity," he growled. "I'm not interested in talking to you." _

"_Then you can just listen," she insisted stubbornly. _

"_I'm not interested in that either," Roy snapped. "Leave me the hell alone!" He turned on his heel and stalked back into the bedroom, not wanting to hear what Felicity or anyone else had to say. Roy sat down heavily on the bed, glad that Felicity wasn't calling out to him anymore. At least she knew a lost cause when she saw it. Roy went back looking at the pictures of himself, a deep scowl on his face. There were so many of them. Why hadn't he woken up and noticed someone in his house? Had he really been that drunk? _

"_I'm not going to do that, Roy." _

_Felicity's stern voice was inside the room and Roy leapt to his feet, eyes going wide. "What the hell are you doing here?" he raged at her. "How did you get in?" _

"_I crawled in through a window seeing as you weren't going to open a door for me." Felicity smoothed down her skirt. "It wasn't pretty. I think I flashed your neighbor." _

_Roy looked down at his phone and then back at her. His jaw hardened. "Is that the first time you've done that?" _

"_Well, I accidentally flashed my dentist once," she admitted, "but I'd just taken a lot of that gas stuff and thought I was a penguin. Does that count?" _

"_Not the flashing," ground out Roy. "Have you broken into my house before? Where you here earlier?" _

_Felicity frowned. "No and no. Why would I?" _

"_You're here now." Roy stepped closer to her and put his face in hers. "Are you playing games with me, Felicity? Isn't it enough what your boyfriend did to me?" _

"_I'm not playing any kind of game and the only thing Oliver did was save your life," said Felicity in agitation. _

"_I didn't ask him to," spat out Roy. "In fact I begged him not to but the guy still hacked my hand off." _

_Felicity winced. "Oliver didn't have a choice," she said in distress. "You know that, Roy. He wasn't going to let you die." _

"_Why does Oliver Queen get to say who lives and dies?" asked Roy bitterly. "Who made him god of all he surveys?" _

"_Oliver cares about you, Roy," said Felicity earnestly. "Imagine if Thea had been chained to that train track? What would you have done to save her?" _

_Roy's lips curled in disgust. "Don't play the Thea card with me. I wouldn't have mutilated her, I know that much!" _

"_So what, you'd just have stood here and let her die!" Felicity demanded angrily. "I don't believe you, Roy. Oliver made an impossible choice and he's living with that every day—" _

"_Oh, is Oliver suffering?" spat Roy. "The poor baby. Does he curl up next to you and hold you with his two good hands and you tell him it's all going to be alright?" _

"_Oliver would do anything for things to be different but he can't!" shouted back Felicity. "This wasn't his fault. It wasn't yours. It was the maniac who chained you to those tracks in the first place!" _

"_The maniac wasn't my friend!" yelled Roy. "He wasn't the guy who promised to always have my back! He wasn't the guy I trusted with my life!" Roy took a step towards her, feeling his anger just overflowing. "I don't want anything to do with Oliver or anyone else who's on his side!"_

"_I'm not on Oliver's side!" said Felicity sharply. "There are no sides. There just people who want to help you, Roy. Let us help you." _

_Roy shoved his stump which was bleeding again in her face. "Can you help me with this, Felicity?" he demanded bitterly. "Are you going to give me some kind of cure which will grow my hand back?" _

_Felicity blanched. "Roy—" _

"_If you can't give me my hand back, then all the rest of it is just hollow words," he said angrily. "I don't want your words, I don't want your pity. I just want you the hell out of my house and you can take your stupid mind games with you!" _

"_Mind games?" said Felicity in confusion. "What are you talking about?" _

"_I don't know what you're trying to achieve with those photos but whatever it is, it didn't work," growled Roy. "Now, get out of my house and don't come back!" He shoved her, just to get her moving. Felicity stumbled, caught off guard by his violent action and she actually fell over. Roy had a moment's guilt but he pushed it to one side. This wasn't his fault. He hadn't asked her to be here. "Just leave," he ground out. "There is nothing you can say that is going to change anything, so just stop talking." _

"_You should know me well enough by now to know that isn't an option when it comes to me, Roy Harper," said Felicity flatly. She went to stand up. "I'm not going until you get over this pity party you're throwing yourself." Felicity's foot was on a pizza box and she slipped back down on her backside as she tried to stand. "Oh!" _

"_Pity party?" bellowed Roy in outrage at Felicity's seemingly casual dismissal of his suffering. "Are you kidding me? Oliver disabled me! I'm worthless now. I can't shoot a bow, I can't do anything!"_

"_You can be an ass!" shouted back Felicity from where she was still sitting on the floor, glaring up at him. "That capacity seems intact. Your life isn't over, Roy. There are tens of thousands of people who live with missing limbs and they live full and happy lives. You lost your hand and it's horrible and tragic but your life isn't over. You still have so much to give this world—" _

"_Why should I give anything to a world that just keeps on taking from me?" he demanded bitterly. Roy loomed over the top of her. "You have no right to come in here and tell me how I should feel about what happened to me, no right!" Roy waved his stump around. "This is my life now. I get the stares from people, I get their pity and disgust and it's all because of your boyfriend!"_

"_This isn't Oliver's fault!" she said loudly. "He saved you!" _

_Felicity's refusal to acknowledge Oliver's responsibility in all this was driving Roy crazy. "He destroyed me!" screamed back Roy. He stood over Felicity, spittle forming at the corner of his mouth as he raged, red-faced at her. "Oliver does what Oliver wants, damn the consequences to anyone else! And you crawl around after him, helping him to justify his every decision just so he'll look at you because you know if you don't, he'd never give some nerdy, run at the mouth IT nerd like you a second look! We're not in his class and he only keeps us around so he can use and abuse us at his whim!" _

"_That is not true!" shouted Felicity. "Oliver cares—" _

"_Oliver is a despot who demands unquestioning obedience from his minions and when he has no use for us, he throws us aside!" _

_Felicity was making another attempt to stand up. "The only reason you're saying those things is because you'd rather blame someone else than be a man and deal with what life has given you!"_

_Roy literally saw red with Felicity's casual summation of his life right then. _

_Felicity was almost on her feet. "You're a coward, Roy Harper and—arghh!"Her feet slipped out from her again and this time Felicity fell heavily on the ground. _

_Roy turned his back on her, a muscle ticking wildly in his jaw and his one remaining hand balling into a white-knuckled fist. "Get out of here, Felicity," he ground out, tone low and ominous as he tried to hang onto the last shreds of his control. "Nothing you're going to say is going to change anything." There was no fierce rejoinder and for that he was glad. Roy swung back around sharply. "Just get the hell out of—" He stopped abruptly, eyes going wide as he saw the reason why Felicity hadn't answered him. She was on the floor, writhing about, her hands at her throat, face going bright red. "Felicity!" said Roy in horror. He dropped to his knees beside her and tried to see why she was tearing at her neck so desperately. In amongst the flurry of her hands scrabbling at her neck, Roy realized he was looking at another hand. It was a man's hand, severed at the wrist and it was tightly gripping Felicity's throat, choking the life out of her. Another realization hit Roy in that split second. _

_It was his hand. _

_The hand Oliver had cut from his body and he thought had been thrown into a medical waste bag at the hospital. Only it hadn't because somehow it was here, squeezing the life out of Felicity. Roy frantically grabbed at the disembodied hand with his left hand, trying to dislodge it from Felicity's neck. She was staring up at him with wide-eyed horror, the whites of her eyes starting to bleed red as tiny blood vessels burst. "Felicity!" said Roy in distress, battling valiantly to try and dislodge the hand but it was incredibly strong and refused to let go of her slender neck. Suddenly there was the sound of bones breaking and Felicity abruptly stopped moving, going limp underneath him…_

"Aaarrhhh!"

"Owww!"

Both Felicity and Oliver cried out, one after the other. Oliver looked at Felicity in disbelief, shaking his hand. "You bit me!" he said in horror. "Again!"

"You touched my neck," said Felicity in distress.

"I felt you going all tense with Diggle's story and I was just trying to reassure you," spluttered Oliver.

"Who puts their hand on someone's neck when listening to a story about a woman being choked to death by a dismembered hand?" she asked in distress. "Are you crazy?"

"I was trying to comfort you," protested Oliver again. "It was meant to be a comforting gesture."

"Newsflash, it totally wasn't," said Felicity unevenly and put a shaking hand to her neck. "It freaked me out."

"I know," said Oliver dryly, "and I have the fresh bite marks to prove it."

Felicity gave Bunny a vaguely embarrassed look. "I bite when I'm startled," she said by way of explanation.

"I fart," volunteered Bunny freely. "There is something about sphincter muscles and fear that just don't mix well on my body."

"Ugh, sphincter muscles," said Roy. He screwed up his face. "Do we have to go there?"

Diggle rolled his eyes. "You people have the attention spans of a fruit fly with ADHD."

"It was Oliver's fault," pouted Felicity. "I was listening quietly."

"You were getting freaked out," said Oliver in vague amusement.

"I'm a little freaked out that you obviously weren't being freaked out about a woman being choked to death," said Felicity, side eying him.

"It's just a story," said Oliver pragmatically. "There is no woman, there is no dismembered hand. It's all made up."

"I know, it's just that I don't like things that skitter," said Felicity unevenly.

"What does that mean?" asked Roy in confusion.

"Anything with more than four legs skitter and I don't like skittering things." Felicity wrinkled her nose. "It's unnatural."

"A hand doesn't have any legs," pointed out Roy.

"But it has fingers which work like legs and there are five of them, hence the skittering."

"You mustn't have been a fan of Thing in the Addams family then," said Diggle in amusement.

"I really wasn't," said Felicity seriously. "I don't like dismembered things that skitter."

"I always thought it'd be fabulously useful to have a dismembered hand at your beck and call," mused Bunny thoughtfully. "I could think of dozens of uses for it."

"I bet," said Roy flatly.

Bunny smiled. "Oh dear boy, you seem to be harboring under the illusion that all I think about is sex."

"You telling me you don't?" asked Roy skeptically.

"A dismembered hand could be incredibly useful for all kinds of things." Bunny's smile became cheeky. "Not just helping you to sign your name."

"We're not going back to that conversation," said Diggle firmly. "I'm going to finish my story, preferably before next Halloween. It may be an unrealistic goal, considering my audience, but I'm going to give it a red hot try."

"And I'm eager to indulge in anything red hot you have to offer, brown bear," said Bunny encouragingly.

"And we're back," said Roy in resignation.

Oliver was looking at Felicity in vague concern. "You sure you want to hear the rest of the story? It seems to be putting you on edge."

"You randomly touching me is what put me on edge," protested Felicity. "I want to hear the rest of the story, as long as you promise not to freak me out."

"If you're asking me not to touch you anymore, I don't think that's a reasonable expectation of me on your behalf," admitted Oliver honestly.

"You know, you used to not touch her all the time before," observed Roy. "You seemed to manage that just fine."

"I did a lot of pushups and climbed a lot of ropes," said Oliver dryly. "I found it helped but now that we're dating—"

"Trial dating," interjected Felicity hastily.

Oliver inclined his head. "Trial dating, the rules have changed."

"The not scaring the life out of me rule remains the same though," said Felicity. "Don't do that."

"Once again, I was trying to reassure you," said Oliver in exasperation. "I was doing the supportive boyfriend thing."

Felicity screwed up her face prettily. "Your thing needs work."

"Not from where I'm sitting," volunteered Bunny freely.

Diggle sighed heavily. "The end."

"Wait, no," said Felicity quickly. "That's not the end of the story, is it?"

"I can stop there."

"But I've got so many questions," protested Felicity.

"It was all a dream."

"Really?" asked Felicity in surprise.

"No, but that's my abridged version seeing as I can't get you all to shut up for more than five minutes at a time," said Diggle calmly.

"We'll be quiet," Felicity promised him hastily. "Right, guys?"

"Don't bite me and I think I can manage that," said Oliver, straight-faced. He nodded at Diggle. "Go on with your story, Digg. What's the story with the dismembered hand?"

"Egyptian Mummy curse," said Roy knowingly. "It's always an Egyptian Mummy curse."

"It's not an Egyptian Mummy curse," said Diggle.

"Misdirection," said Roy in a loud whisper to everyone else. "It's totally an Egyptian Mummy curse."

"What I wouldn't give for one right now," muttered Diggle.

"Just tell the rest of your story, brown bear," said Bunny encouragingly. "We're all agog." To that statement Ladybug let out a gentle snore, having fallen asleep with his head in Bunny's lap. "That's the sound Ladybug makes when he's agog," reassured Bunny. "Honestly, darling, keep on going."

"Right," sighed Diggle attempting yet again to get his story finished, "so the body count is at one—"

**A/N****: And can I just say – I wrote that stuff about how Roy lost his hand long before I saw the Cupid episode promo where Oliver is chained to the railway track. I saw that on the promo (still haven't watched the episode yet) and I was all like 'NOO!', how could the Arrow writers do that to me? I promise I didn't steal from them… apparently great minds think alike. Lol **

**For those of you know Roy's comic history, I just had to cast him as the lead in Diggle's horror story – a little homage to the character. ;) Hope you'll join me for the trial end of this story. I'll explain what I mean by trial ending next chapter. :D**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N****: Okay, so, I'm just going to take a minute here and talk about the show again. It's basically just a few thoughts about the last episode – make of it what you will… a pashmina, a jaunty hat, a feather boa… whatever tickles your fancy… or just ignore it completely – probably the best thing. Cupid was a tough episode, I admit that but I have to say, I'm 10000% on Felicity's side with this one. She is doing absolutely the right thing and I have to take my hat off to the writers in actually giving a real backbone and sense of self-worth to the love interest of a super hero. A lot of the time they're there to be a foil, to be periodically rescued and inspire the hero to be the best he can be. Yeah, great, but that makes it all about the hero. What about the actual love interest? So often they end up being defined by their love for the hero. Why limit them like that? It's why they always come across as secondary characters in a lot of comic books. Sure, they often give them smarts and gumption and feistiness but a beating heart, a sense of who they are outside of the hero, not always so much. A lot of times they're there to inform the hero's journey. And yes, we're seeing that with Felicity but this season Felicity has become a whole lot more than that. **

**The way I see it, Felicity has given Oliver everything the last 2 years. She's been at his beck and call, she's given every waking moment to him and his crusade, she's supported him, encouraged him, had his back – without question, without hesitation. She always brought her A game for Oliver. And she wasn't looking for anything in return. There were no strings. Sure, I'm sure she wondered 'what if' but Felicity was willing to give her all, knowing that there was no future for her and Oliver. **

**And then what happened… oh yeah, Oliver dangled a future in front of her. **

**For a brief moment, what was in Felicity's head and heart was suddenly a reality. Oliver chose to cross that line, he's the one who opened that can of worms. Everything changed, because even though he tried to take back that hope, it was too late. Once something is seen, it can't be unseen and Oliver did that. He didn't intend to be cruel but it was. I don't hold it against him, he's genuinely torn up about it, he's not intentionally playing with Felicity's heart, just like she isn't intentionally playing with his.**

**So, now Felicity is faced with the reality of a man who could give her everything she ever wanted but won't let himself. It's Oliver's decision, she can't do squat about it. That old adage about you can't make someone else change but you can change yourself. Felicity couldn't force Oliver to rethink his reasoning, she just couldn't. So, the big decision – stay there with him and watch the man you love wait for death and die with him or choose life. Here's the thing – Oliver's wrong. He's wrong about thinking he has to compartmentalize Arrow and Oliver and that there is no real place for Oliver in the world anymore, only the Arrow. He's wrong. Diggle knows it, Felicity knows it and I have a feeling even Oliver knows it, deep down. Yes, Felicity loves Oliver but does love mean you have to agree and get on board with every dumb thing your loved one thinks or says? Of course not. Imagine if the person you love more than anyone else in the world suddenly came to you and said that they are no longer going to pay taxes because they don't like the guy running the country. Do you just go along with them and do what they do because you love them or do you still pay your taxes because, you know, it's the law and you don't want both of you to end up in jail. **

**Just because Felicity doesn't want to rot with Oliver in the Arrow Cave doesn't mean her love for him isn't deep and abiding. It's the opposite and to be honest, her getting on with her life, taking that job with Ray, even kissing the guy, is the absolutely most loving thing she could do for not only herself, but for Oliver too. If she'd allowed nothing to change… then nothing would ever change. Basically, if Felicity was to remain at Oliver's beck and call, in a pseudo relationship that gives Oliver just enough to keep going, then all she is doing is enabling him in his poor decision making. It's like with kids, you try and tell them not to do something but sometimes the best lesson is just to let them lick that damn power socket and find out for themselves! Oliver needs to lick the light socket. He needs to sit in the consequences of his decision to turn his back on a real relationship with Felicity. The reality is his decision means that Felicity will move on, find another man, build a life outside of Oliver and he has to know that… more than just in his head as a vague possibility but as a reality. And that's what that episode was all about. **

**I'm sorry, but I'm bloody cheering Felicity on! She's made of all twelve flavours of awesome! She loves herself enough not to be content with being Oliver's crutch. What man isn't going to fall in love all over again with that kind of strength? Felicity is a complete person outside of Oliver. Oliver is not a complete person outside of Felicity, not yet. He needs to work on that so he can deserve all that Felicity is. Look, I feel for the boy, I really do but there are only so many cuddles and hugs you can hand out to a person who is on a path of self-destruction before you become part of the problem yourself. If Oliver wants the life of the stoic, solitary hero, then he has to know what that feels like, I mean really feels like without the pain relief of Felicity whenever it all gets too bad. **

**As for Felicity being involved in reshaping QC with Ray – here's the thing, Oliver did to QC exactly what he did with Felicity – remember, on the stairs after Ray got the vote – he gave up. How can Felicity fight for a company with Oliver when he has said he doesn't even want/deserve it anymore… because QC means Oliver has to exist and so far, Oliver has been hell bent on trying to get rid of Oliver Queen and all his ties – starting with QC and ending with Felicity. He doesn't think Arrow and OQ can co-exist – he's wrong but telling him he's wrong won't work, he has to work that out for himself. So, in the meantime, what's Felicity meant to do… once again join Oliver in his defeat, in his lack of belief in himself and what he has to offer the world as OQ… nope, our girl is too awesome for that! She takes all that drive, all that brilliance and fire and she makes something with someone who isn't sitting around, waiting for death. **

**Now, does anyone really think for one minute she wouldn't much rather be doing that with Oliver? She was practically glowing at the thought of Oliver getting QC back in Ep1, ready to be by his side, no matter what. And who was it who bailed? Oh yeah, Oliver. Felicity can't be by the side of a guy who isn't there. Ray is there. It doesn't mean what it could have meant with her and Oliver but it's something… rather than the nothing Oliver is offering. Does that make her disloyal – not for a second. It makes her a woman with drive and smarts she wants to use to make something good with. And she hasn't given up on Oliver. She's still there, with Arrow, that flickering hope that Oliver will show up again but she's not putting her life on hold waiting anymore. The ball is in his court. Felicity has done all that she can to show her love and devotion to him. She was all in. Oliver is the sticking point and until he unsticks himself, there is nothing Felicity can do. **

**And as for her being uncaring of how this might all come across to Oliver… well, she's not being deliberately cruel. Just like Oliver wasn't being deliberately cruel when he hooked up with all those women, knowing full well how Felicity felt about him. Felicity had to watch him kiss other women countless times and she just had to suck it up. Oliver was kissing Sara in front of Felicity, back in the day. This time, the tables are turned but Felicity didn't know Oliver was there, and yes, it sucks for Oliver but Felicity knows all about that and he can man up over one kiss that he basically set up when Oliver's done it so often to Felicity. It's not a tit for tat thing, but honestly, as far as putting up with crap, Felicity's cup over runneth a hell of a lot more than Oliver's on that front. **

**And that's why, in my humble opinion, despite all the pain and angst of the cupid episode, it was a fantastic one for Oliver and Felicity and Olicity. Growth is painful. Oliver has to suffer to grow and this time he's the one causing himself his own pain. Not Felicity. She's innocent. There is no betrayal on her behalf. It's Oliver who gave up, not her, he betrayed the hope he offered her. And she can't believe for the both of them, that just isn't a thing. Oliver has to own the decisions in his life and Felicity, wise woman that she is, is helping him do that by moving on with her life. **_**That's**_** how much she loves him. **_**That's**_** how much she's sacrificing for him. It would be the easiest thing in the world to keep on living in their pseudo-relationship that was never going to being fully realized. Think how easy that'd be for Felicity. Better something than nothing, right? Nope, not if you really love someone. If you really love someone, you want the absolute best for them. Felicity wants Oliver to have the best in life because she knows he deserves it but until he knows that for himself, she's not going to enable him in the half-life he's chosen. This woman is magnificence personified! **

**Boy, you weren't expecting that feisty diatribe, now where you? Lol I guess my main reason for the story dissection above is to try and present Felicity's POV (I'm a fiend about balancing arguments). Arrow is telling the story of Oliver and it's easy to forget the other characters but the writers are actually trying to make Felicity a whole person herself, just like Oliver and not just the 'licity' in Olicity. That's awesome and to be commended and appreciated. Which, circles me back around to my point. They're putting a lot of effort into defining Felicity outside of Oliver… while still firmly having her impact very deeply on Oliver. I'm working hard to enjoy that, despite the pain of seeing them apart. As much as it's excruciating watching them flounder around each other, this is it, this is THEIR story – I'm not going to wish it away. And I'm sharing this from a purely selfish motivation because I want people to appreciate the angst in my story too (and all other ones out there) for what it adds to the characters and their journey, not just wish it away. **

**As a person who has shipped more than one doomed relationship in the past and had her heart broken, I've tried to adopt the strategy of enjoying what I'm given and not looking too far down the track, as I'm sure a lot of you have too. The story is what happens before the end… I keep telling myself focusing on the endgame takes away from the joy of the journey. Look, I don't know if Olicity will ultimately be end game but if I get an awesome, emotionally fulfilling story arc between them before the end, well, isn't that the point? My hesitation to get fully into Arrow was because after S2, I wasn't sure they were going to try and tell Olicity's story. SA and the writers have convinced me and what I've seen on my screen proves that they're telling Olicity's story. Will it be a HEA or a tragedy? I don't know… I have to watch the story to find out but the important thing is that they have a story. My mantra is enjoy the good bits, eat chocolate through the bad bits and know that all of it ultimately ends up being a part of Olicity's story. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst – that's my go to… and hang out with likeminded people who understand my pain and don't think I'm a lunatic for investing so much in a couple. *big hug***

**Hmm… Hank's just mentioned to me that all of the above sounds a bit preachy. I see his point… although obviously I'm not going to tell him because the guy has a big enough head as it is. It wasn't meant to be preachy, not at all. I guess I was just trying to find a way that people might find feel a little less pained about the state of Olicity right now. I hate seeing people upset or a bit down, not if I can maybe help show a different perspective. Or maybe I've just made it way worse, I don't know. Lol Ship how you like to ship, it's all good. :D There is no right or wrong way… although that woman who killed a squirrel with a shovel and brought it in a plastic zip lock back to give to Norman Reedus at a Walking Dead Comic Con event… I feel like that is possibly edging over to the wrong way to ship… yeah, don't do that. . **

**But now, the last chapter. Do you even have the strength to read it after all of the above? Probably not. It's possibly a good thing this is the last chapter and I can get on with the next story, Under My Skin. I'll stop talking now because this is a ridiculously long AN's which I'm deeply embarrassed about. I'll just let you read the rest of the story and catch up with you quickly at the end…**

**CHAPTER FIVE**

_Roy quickly crossed the street and hurried back to his house. It was dark and two of the three street lights were out but he still had his red hoodie pulled up as he looked around anxiously. He set down the bag of items he'd just bought at his feet and fumbled to put the key in the door. It still felt alien to use his left hand for these menial tasks, so it took longer than it should. It also didn't help that he kept casting nervous looks over his shoulder. The door was finally open and Roy picked his bag back up and went inside, immediately closing the door behind him and locking it. He looked around the dingy room of his house, eyes darting everywhere and looking for any sign of movement. After snapping Felicity's neck, the hand had suddenly scarpered from the room and disappeared out the window Felicity had wiggled through minutes before. Roy hastily walked over to the same window and checked that it was locked securely. He repeated the process with every other window in the place, even though he'd performed the same task over and over again before leaving his house previously. That thing was out of his house and he wanted to keep it that way. _

_Roy still didn't know what he'd witnessed. The shock of it all was still numbing his body. He had so many questions and just didn't understand how this could be happening. He walked by his bedroom door and was given a violent reminder that it was indeed very real. Felicity's body was laid out on the carpet, her bloodshot eyes staring up at the ceiling as her neck was bent at an unnatural angle. Some of the delicate bones of her neck were pressing against the skin, not breaking it but making a sickening picture of just how violent the final death stroke had been. Roy swallowed hard to force back the bile which had just risen to the back of his throat. He'd panicked after the hand had left him with a dead body to deal with. Roy knew he couldn't ring the police. What could he tell them – that a dismembered hand had strangled a woman to death in his house and he was the only eyewitness? And as it was his hand, technically he'd killed Felicity… although he hadn't. There was no way he wasn't going to end up in a cell with that kind of story. The only question would be if it was padded or not. He had no one to turn to. Roy knew he had to handle this himself. Retrieving the bags he'd left at the front door, Roy dumped them on the table before fishing out a roll of black plastic bags. Steeling himself, Roy dealt with Felicity's body. He wrapped her completely in the black plastic, taping up the body until he was no longer forced to look at her lifeless face. _

_Roy drew in an unsteady breath, willing himself to keep doing what needed to be done. It'd be dark soon and when the darkness came he could load Felicity's body into the trunk of his car and drive her to the river. He hated the thought of such an end for someone he'd called a friend but there were no options. No one could discover her body. Roy glanced out the window, impatient for it to be dark already. He just wanted Felicity gone from his house. He didn't want the reminder of her violent demise. But Roy knew he needed to work out what was going on. He stood up from where he'd finished securing Felicity's body and hurried back to the bags he'd brought in with him. In one of the bags was a series of small cameras and Roy quickly went about setting them up throughout his house. He needed photographic proof that this hand existed and also, some kind of early warning system. It had killed Felicity for no reason. Who was to say he wasn't next? It was a frightening thought. Once the cameras were set up, Roy made sure they were all feeding to his laptop. He looked at the split screen on his laptop, showing images of all the rooms in his small house. Roy went to run a shaking hand through his hair but stopped abruptly as once again he was reminded there was no hand there. Another look outside the window told him that it was getting dark but it still wasn't dark enough. Not enough to move Felicity's body. He'd still have to wait to do that but at least he could move the car closer. Roy grabbed his car keys and headed to the door. He opened the door and made a shocked noise as Thea was revealed on the other side, her hand lifted in a fist to rap on the door. "Thea!" _

_Thea frowned up at him. "Hi," she said seriously. _

"_Wh-what are you doing here?" _

"_Seeing as you're not taking my calls these days, it's the only way we can talk," said Thea in frustration. "And we need to talk, Roy. Can I come in?" _

"_No!" Roy hadn't meant to say that as loudly as he had. He was very conscious of Felicity's body still lying on his bedroom floor. Thea could never know. "You have to get out of here, Thea," he said sharply. "I don't want you here." _

"_Well, tough because I'm not going anywhere until we talk," said Thea determinedly. _

"_I'm not interested in talking," said Roy harshly. "Just go, okay?" _

_Thea's jaw hardened. "You either let me in the house to talk or I sit on your front step until you do." She arched a challenging eyebrow. "Those are your two options, Roy Harper. You don't get to dismiss me like you have everyone else. That's not how it works." _

_Roy grimaced. He couldn't have Thea sitting out on his front step. He had no idea where that damn hand was out here. It could attack her without warning but he couldn't leave Felicity's body in the house. What if Oliver or Diggle came around again and let themselves in? He made a frustrated sound. There was no easy answer but Roy knew he couldn't have Thea sitting out on his stoop in danger. "Two minutes," he ground out. "And then you go, got it?" _

"_It'll take as long as it takes," said Thea primly. _

_Damn her stubbornness. "Just give me a minute to clean up," he said quickly. _

_Thea rolled her eyes. "I don't care about the mess, Roy. I only care about you." _

"_I'll be right back." Roy closed the door in her face and then quickly ran over to his bedroom door and closed it. Then he was back at the door, letting Thea in. _

_She walked in and looked around at the general state of filthy disarray. "How bad was it before if this is you after cleaning up?" Thea asked laconically. _

"_You don't have to stay," said Roy tightly. "You can leave, right now." Leave, please just leave. _

_Thea looked back at him, that familiar determination in her eyes. "Roy, I'm not letting you shut me out of your life anymore. I get that you're hurting but locking me out isn't going to help make you feel better." Thea took a step towards him, laying a hand on his arm. "Roy, I love you," she said emotionally. "I want to be here for you, be a part of your life." _

"_How can you say that?" asked Roy bitterly. "Look at me, I'm a monster." He shoved his stump up between them. _

"_You're not a monster," said Thea, not flinching. "You're someone who's had something horrible happen to you. It doesn't change anything about the way I feel about you." _

_Roy needed her out of here. He had to deal with the body in his room and this crazy hand situation. Thea wasn't safe around him. Roy steeled himself to do what needed to be done. "Maybe I don't feel the same way about you," he growled. "Do you really think there is any hope for us after what your brother did to me?" _

"_Oliver saved your life," said Thea quickly. _

_She was saying exactly what Felicity had and it rankled even more. "He took the life I had and flushed it down the toilet," said Roy bitterly. "How am I meant to look at you every day and not think about that?" _

"_It's all still very fresh to you right now," said Thea earnestly. "You're going to—" _

"_What?" he asked angrily. "Get over it? Is that what you think?" _

"_You're still in shock," said Thea, trying to placate him. "You're not thinking straight. You'll see, the day will come that you'll realize that your life isn't over and that day will come sooner if you let me back into your life—" _

_Roy caught a tiny flash of movement out of the corner of his eye and he turned his head just in time to see something moving on one of the split screens. It was the one in the kitchen. His stomach dropped as he realized the camera had just caught the hand. It had somehow found its way back into the house. Roy felt himself begin to panic. "You have to leave, Thea, now!"_

_Thea's attention was now on the laptop as well. "What is that?" she asked in confusion. "Have you got cameras up around your house?" Thea walked up to the laptop. "Why on earth would you do that?" She leaned closer, taking in the small split screens. "What's that in your bedroom?" _

_Roy felt like he was frozen to the spot. _

_Thea was looking at him in real concern now. "What is that in your room, Roy?" she demanded to know. Not waiting for an answer, she pushed past him to get to his bedroom. _

_Roy went to grab her but once again, he attempted to use his right hand which just wasn't there. "No!"_

_Thea slipped by him and then she was opening the door to his bedroom. Roy's blood ran cold as he chased after her. Thea stared down at what was obviously a body, tightly wrapped in black plastic. "Roy," she breathed in horror, "what is this? What have you done?" _

"_I didn't do anything," said a stricken Roy, standing in the doorway to his bedroom. "I tried to save her, I really did." He could barely hear his own words over the pounding of his heart. _

_Thea looked at him with wide, frightened eyes. "Who-who is it?"_

_Roy shook his head at her. "I didn't do it, I swear, Thea," he said in desperation. "Felicity came over and—" _

"_Felicity?" repeated Thea in distress. "That's Felicity in there?" _

_Roy swallowed hard. "I tried to save her," he said weakly. _

"_Are you telling me someone came in here and murdered Felicity in front of you?" asked Thea, still clearly trying to work out what happened. _

"_I-I—"_

"_We have to call the police," said Thea hoarsely. "We have to tell them what happened."_

"_No!" said Roy loudly. "No, we can't call the police, we can't tell anyone." _

"_Felicity is dead, Roy," said Thea in horror. "You can't just dump her in a river somewhere." _

_Roy pulled back a little, looking guilty. _

"_Oh my God, tell me you weren't going to do that?" choked out Thea. "How could you even think of doing something like that?" _

"_I didn't have a choice, nobody would believe what really happened," said Roy defensively. _

"_What really happened, Roy?" asked Thea intently, face drawn and taking a step closer to him. "Why have you wrapped Felicity up like this? Why didn't you just call the police?" _

_Behind Thea, Roy saw something dart under his bed. He drew in a fearful breath. "Thea, you have to get out of here," he said urgently. Roy grabbed her arm. "You have to leave, now!"_

_She shook his hand off. "I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what is going on," said Thea sharply. _

"_Thea," he pleaded with her, "please, it's not safe. There is something in here." Roy tried again to drag her out but suddenly the hand lunged out from under the bed and ran at him. He took an instinctive step backwards and then the door was abruptly being slammed in his face. Roy tried to open the door but there was the sound of the handle being snapped off on the other side. "Thea!" he called out in a panic. "Thea!"_

"_Roy!" she cried out and then there was a strangled noise from the other side of the door. _

"_No, Thea!" yelled out Roy in horror, throwing himself against the door but it was no use. He could hear choked sounds coming from the other side of the door. In a panic Roy ran to his laptop so he could see what was happening. Thea was on his bed, thrashing about as the life was choked out of her by the hand. "No, no, no," whimpered Roy as he stared at the sickening images. He whipped around and this time ran at the door with all of his might. The door tore off its hinges and it and Roy landed on the ground. Roy scrambled to his feet and raced over to Thea, kneeling beside her on the bed. He bent over her, hot tears stinging his eyes. "Thea, Thea, wake up, baby, please, open your eyes," he babbled at her. Roy didn't want to look at her neck, didn't want to see it snapped at the same unnatural angle Felicity's had been. He just kept looking at her face, willing her to open her eyes and end this nightmare for him. But it didn't happen. Thea's lips were blue, her skin ashen and she wasn't moving. A rage curled out in Roy and then exploded out of every cell in his body. He grabbed the baseball bat he kept by the bed and went on the hunt for the creature which had killed the love of his life and destroyed what was left of that life. Roy dropped to his knees and looked under the bed. There was a flash of movement as the hand scurried out from under the bed and Roy was immediately swinging the baseball bat at it. He missed it and the hand kept running out into the living room. Roy chased it down, wildly swinging the bat around in an attempt to kill the thing which had taken Thea's life. Lamps were smashed, shelves splintered in Roy's wild attempts to destroy the hand. The whole time he was screaming at the hand, bellowing at the top of his lungs at what it had done and swearing vengeance, not caring who might hear him…_

"He needs a voodoo priest," said Roy knowingly. "Voodoo priests always know what to do with dismembered, reanimated things."

"On what are you basing that statement?" asked Oliver wryly.

Roy snorted. "Everybody knows voodoo priests are your go to when it comes to possessed hands. It just makes sense."

"I thought you said it was all down to an Egyptian curse?" said Felicity with a little smile.

"Voodoo, Egyptian curse, they're all in the same ballpark," said Roy blithely.

"That's a pretty big ballpark you've got there, Roy," said Oliver dryly.

"The point is, you can never kill anything supernatural with a baseball bat," said Roy firmly. "When you think they're dead, they're not. They always come back to get you in the end."

Bunny looked at Diggle. "Is that what happens in this story, brown bear? Does the hand come back for more vengeance?"

'You know, if you all stopped interrupting me, we'd already know," said Diggle in exasperation. "Seriously, how hard is it to sit quietly for ten minutes and just listen?"

"Finish your story, boo," said Bunny encouragingly. "You won't hear another peep from me, promise." He mimed locking his lips and throwing away the key.

"It's unlikely," sighed Diggle. "Now, where were we?"

"Guy's gone crazy with grief, breaking up the place with a baseball bat," Roy reminded him. "Don't tell me, the hand takes him out, right?"

"Wrong. It's a bit worse than that…"

"_Mr. Queen, you can come through now." _

_Oliver inclined his head at the orderly and walked on through the door the man was holding open for him. In the middle of the room was a metal desk and on one side of the desk was Roy, strapped to his chair in a straightjacket, face flushed and sweaty. He looked up as Oliver walked into the room. _

"_Oliver!" he said hoarsely. "Thank God you're here. Something terrible has happened."_

_Oliver already knew. He'd just come from identifying Felicity and Thea's bodies in the morgue. It was officially the worst day of his life and in his life, that was really saying something. When he'd gotten the phone call from Detective Lance he hadn't been able to believe it. He still didn't believe it, even though he'd just seen the physical evidence of what Roy had done to the two women he loved most in the world. _

"_You have to help me, man," said Roy desperately. "No one believes me but you've got to. I know you will."_

_Oliver sat down at the desk and tried to collect his thoughts. "What happened, Roy?" he rasped. "What happened to Thea and Felicity?" _

"_I didn't kill them," vowed Roy urgently. "It wasn't me." _

"_Then who was it?" asked Oliver dully. "The police got multiple phone calls from your neighbors about you screaming and busting the place up and when they got their they found-they found—" His voice broke, unable to finish that sentence. The horror was still too fresh. _

"_It wasn't me," said Roy again, eyes wide. "I tried to stop it but it locked me out of the room. I couldn't save either of them and I tried, Oliver, I really tried. You have to believe me." _

"_Then who did this, Roy?" said Oliver, looking at him intently. "Tell me who killed Thea and Felicity if it wasn't you." There was a note of pleading in his voice. Oliver needed it not to be Roy but every bit of evidence pointed to the contrary._

"_It was the hand," said Roy unevenly. He dropped his voice and looked around furtively. "A hand got into my house and killed the girls. I tried to stop it but it was too fast for me. I knew something was wrong when I found all these pictures of me sleeping on my phone and I didn't know who'd taken them. The hand did it all." _

"_A hand?" repeated Oliver slowly. "Taking pictures of you?"_

_Roy's head bobbed up and down. "Yes, a hand," he said eagerly. "I know it sounds crazy, I know that, okay? But it's true. This dismembered hand just attacked them. It's the thing which killed Thea and Felicity, not me. You know me, Oliver, you know I'd die before hurting either one of them." _

"_A hand?" said Oliver again, feeling his hopes sink. _

"_Look, I know how that sounds, I do," said Roy fiercely. "But you have to believe me. I don't know how or why but that hand is what is killing people, not me. I swear to you, Oliver, I didn't hurt anyone. Tell me you believe me." _

"_Roy, can you hear what you're saying?" asked Oliver in distress. "Are you seriously asking me to believe that some kind of zombie hand was responsible for Thea and Felicity's death?" _

"_You don't have to take my word for it," said Roy urgently. "After what happened to Felicity, I put in cameras. They recorded everything. It'll show you that I didn't hurt Thea, that it was the hand." Roy leaned over the table towards him. "Just look at the footage on those cameras. It'll prove to you I'm not crazy, that everything I'm saying is true and that you've got to find that thing and destroy it, okay, before it hurts other people," he said hoarsely. _

"_Roy," said Oliver quietly, "what you're saying is impossible." _

"_No, no, no, it's not," said a panicked Roy. "You have to believe me, Oliver, you're the only one who can stop the hand before it kills again. Then you can get me out of here." His expression was pleading. "Please, Oliver, I'm not crazy, I don't belong in this place. Don't leave me here to rot. I didn't kill Felicity and Thea, it was the hand. You have to believe me." _

_Oliver looked away, his heart sinking. "I've got to go, Roy," he said quietly. He looked back at the other man. "I'll make sure you get the best care money can buy." _

"_No, no," said Roy in horror, "I don't want that. I want you to believe me!" _

_Oliver stood up. "I don't blame you. I know what happened with us—" He stopped abruptly and cleared his throat. "You have to know I never meant to destroy your life just like I know you never meant to hurt Felicity and Thea—" _

"_I didn't hurt them," said Roy in desperation. "Oliver, listen to me, I didn't do it. I swear to you!" _

_Oliver turned away, feeling his grief all but overwhelm him. "I'm sorry, Roy," he said softly. "I really am, for everything." _

"_No! No! You can't leave me like this!" screamed Roy, struggling within the confines of his straightjacket. "I didn't do this! You have to stop the hand! The hand killed the girls, not me! Oliver! Don't you leave me! You have to believe me!" _

_Oliver walked towards the door, trying to ignore Roy's hysterical rantings. _

"_Look at the camera feed!" Roy yelled at him, still wrestling against his bonds. "They'll prove to you I'm not crazy! Oliver! Look at the camera feed!" _

_The orderly closed the door behind Oliver and now Roy's demented shouts were muffled. Oliver was met by a sober looking Detective Lance. _

"_I'm sorry for your loss," said the older man tightly, face drawn in unhappiness._

_Oliver's expression was pained. "Thank you," he said hoarsely. _

_Lance looked over Oliver's shoulder to the door, which Roy's shouting could still be heard behind. "I have the confiscated cameras from Roy's house. I was just about to look at them." He paused. "It's not by the book… but do you want to take a look at them with me?" _

_Oliver looked at him and then swallowed hard. "Yes," he said hoarsely. Roy's story was insane and there was no way it could be true but there was this niggling doubt Oliver couldn't quite shake. Roy was so convinced of his story about the hand. It was madness but then, this whole day had been nothing but madness. _

_Lance inclined his head and then silently walked them into another room, where a laptop had been set up. He indicated for Oliver to take a seat and then took the chair beside him. Lance looked at Oliver. "Are you sure?" he asked tightly. "What we're about to see… it ain't gonna be easy to watch." _

_Oliver's jaw hardened. "I know," he said unevenly, "but I owe it to Thea and Felicity… and to Roy." _

_Lance nodded. "Okay." He pressed a key on the keyboard and the camera feeds were played back. Lance sped them up until Thea was in the house and then brought them back to normal speed. _

_A lump formed in Oliver's throat to see Thea alive and talking, even though he couldn't hear her words. It was the last time he was going to see that and Oliver was forced to blink away tears at the thought. His gaze was caught by images of Roy's bedroom. There was a plastic wrapped body on the floor of the bedroom and Oliver felt sick at knowing he was looking at Felicity. His stomach lurched to think of her in there and what she must have gone through in the final seconds of her life, the terror she must have been feeling. Had she called out for him? Had she begged Roy for her life? It was too hard to think about. Oliver looked away for a few seconds, trying to collect himself. When he looked back it was to see that Thea had just noticed Felicity's body. Oliver watched her react, pushing past Roy to get to the bedroom, Roy chasing after her. His stomach clenched, not wanting to see this but knew he had to, just to be sure. Roy and Thea were arguing in the bedroom, over Felicity's corpse. It looked like Roy was trying to defend himself but Thea wasn't buying what he was selling. Oliver knew the feeling. "Roy said it was a dismembered hand," said Oliver shakily. "That was who… what killed my sister and Felicity." _

"_Yeah, he was singing that song when we arrested him," said Lance flatly. "He busted up the place pretty good on the hunt for this supposed killer hand." _

"_You didn't find anything?" Oliver didn't even know why he was asking. It was all just too bizarre for words._

_Lance gave him a look which said he was thinking the same thing. "What do you think?" _

_Oliver grimaced and turned his attention back to the screen. Suddenly Roy's face darkened. He turned and slammed the bedroom door shut on him and Thea and then he was advancing on her. Roy gripped Thea tightly around the throat with his left hand as she struggled to break free, her eyes wide and full of fear. Oliver stood up abruptly and walked away. "Turn it off," he rasped. _

_Lance complied and then was standing to talk to the other man. "I'm sorry but were you really expecting anything different?" _

_Oliver drew in an uneven breath. "No," he said raggedly and then looked to the heavens. He hadn't been but seeing it confirmed was just another level of hell to be endured. _

"_Roy's up for a lot of psyche evaluations," said Lance soberly. "He just snapped, couldn't handle reality and attacked those closest to him and when his mind couldn't handle what he'd done—" _

"_His brain created the reanimated hand persona to deal with killing Felicity and Thea," said Oliver dully. "I know." He looked at Lance. "Roy really believes that hand did the killing and not him, I can see it in his eyes." _

"_We did an initial polygraph and he passed," agreed Lance. "His brain his totally blocked out what he did. It's going to take a lot of medication and therapy to get him to accept what he's done." _

_Oliver looked at him, torn. "How would you rather be, believing in a lie or waking up to a truth which is going to destroy you all over again?" He shook his head. "There is no way for Roy to come out of this okay." _

_Lance nodded his head. "I don't think okay is an option anymore for that kid. It just comes down to which kind of hell he's going to live out the rest of his days in." _

_Oliver's face crumbled and he put a hand to his face, knowing this was all his fault. He'd lost his entire world along with Roy and all because he'd tried to do the right thing. _

"_I don't know what to tell you, Oliver," said Lance sympathetically, "except that no good deed goes unpunished." _

"Ohh… nice tie in with the title, brown bear," said Bunny approvingly.

"That poor man," said Felicity in sympathy. "Both of them."

"That guy should have let the other guy die on the train tracks," said Roy knowingly.

Oliver arched an eyebrow. "Really? If you were in that position, that's what you'd want?"

"Hell, yeah," said Roy emphatically. "I'd hate to lose a hand or arm."

"That's not going to happen," said Felicity firmly. "That's why we're a team, we look out for each other."

"You're all so cute," said Bunny appreciatively. "You're like a little family."

Diggle half-smiled. "I guess we are, in a way."

"Still no lights," noted Roy. "Who's up next for a story?"

"Oh wait," said Bunny quickly. "I have to powder my nose." He looked at Felicity. "Come with me, honey?"

"Excuse me, what?" asked a taken aback Oliver.

Bunny patted his leg. "It's alright, monkey, we're not going to talk about you." He put his hand up to his mouth and did a loud aside whisper to Felicity. "We're _totally_ going to talk about him."

Felicity giggled. "Good."

"Ah, no, not good," said Oliver unevenly. "Bunny, just go to the bathroom alone. You're a grown man."

"I'm a grown man who's just heard about nine-fingered strangers waiting for you in your house and dismembered hands strangling people," said Bunny. He wrinkled his nose. "I'm not going anywhere in the dark alone." Bunny belched noisily. "I'm getting gassy just thinking about it."

"I thought you farted when you were scared?" noted Roy dryly.

"The tummy gas is a precursor to the actual main event," said Bunny blithely.

"I'm so sad I know that now," sighed Diggle.

"Forewarned is for armed, brown bear," said Bunny knowingly.

"My point is, if you're scared, Felicity isn't the best pick to protect you," argued Oliver.

"None taken," said Felicity calmly.

Oliver wrinkled his nose. "Sorry. I just mean that out of the four of us, your skill set isn't particularly in that area. You know, not like mine is."

"You hear that, Bunny," said Felicity mischievously, "Oliver's volunteered to take my place."

"What, no," said Oliver hastily. "No, I didn't."

"It's alright, monkey," said Bunny blithely, "I don't bite." Another loud aside to Felicity behind the back of his hand. "I _absolutely_ bite."

Felicity laughed again as Oliver rolled his eyes. "Roy, you go with Bunny."

"What?" squeaked Roy. "How come I've gotten the short straw?"

"Trust me, darling," purred Bunny. "My straw… _definitely_ not short."

Felicity bit her bottom lip to try and stop from laughing again. She and Diggle shared amused looks.

"I am not watching another guy pee," protested Roy strongly.

"You're the reason Bunny is here in the first place," countered Oliver, just as strongly.

"Diggle is the one who made the deal about the favor," said Roy sharply.

"Bunny is hiding out from the brother of the guy you killed," said Oliver flatly.

"He was killed by chickens!" said Roy hotly. "I keep telling you. I was an innocent bystander."

"Roy, just go with Bunny," said Oliver in exasperation.

Roy pulled a face and reluctantly stood up. "I'm a second class citizen in this team," he grumbled. "I get all the crappy jobs."

"It's alright, honey, I just need to tinkle, no twoesies," said Bunny cheerily, standing up as well.

"Small mercies," muttered Roy.

Felicity leant over and picked up her phone which still had the fire app playing. "Here, you'll need this."

"Oh yeah," said Roy sarcastically, "that's what this situation needs, more light. Yeah, no."

Oliver smiled at the younger man's ire as he and Bunny walked off together into the gloom.

"This is fun," said Felicity happily. "We should do this more often."

"Stop grabbing at me!" said Roy irritably off in the darkness.

"I have terrible night vision, kitten," complained Bunny. "I can't see where I'm going."

"You go any further south of the border and bad night vision will be the least of your problems," said Roy hotly. "No touching!"

"Can't I just hold your hand, to get my bearings?"

"No!"

There was suddenly the sound of someone tripping over and things being broken.

Felicity sat up straighter. "Bunny, are you alright?" she asked in concern.

"I'm fine, poppet, that was my kitten."

"Son of a bitch," muttered Roy unevenly and there was the sound of him clambering to his feet.

"Seems like me you hitched your wagon to the wrong star if you're hoping Roy to get you there safely, Bunny," said Diggle wryly.

"I tripped over Bunny," complained Roy in annoyance. "He just stopped walking."

"I couldn't see. I had to stop walking."

"Oh, for the love of—" ground out Roy. "Here."

Oliver's lips twitched. "Are you holding Bunny's hand now?"

"No," snapped Roy.

"Ohh… soft hands," said Bunny approvingly.

"He's imagining it," growled Roy. "Come on, let's get this over with already."

Oliver couldn't grinned, wishing the lights on so he could see Roy leading Bunny to the bathroom by the hand.

Felicity nudged him. "See, I told you Bunny would be fun to have around."

"Only when he's torturing Roy," conceded Oliver. "But the guy is still a liability."

"You worry over things which don't always need to be worried about," said Felicity firmly. "I have a good feeling about Bunny. I think this is going to work."

"Diggle, please tell Felicity that Bunny isn't joining the team, that he's only here until you can take care of Ross Ross and get Bunny out of our hair," said Oliver determinedly.

"So, you want me to lie to you?" said Diggle, straight faced.

"No," said Oliver in horror, "I want you to tell me the truth, which is that Bunny will be out of our lives soon."

"Now who's setting unrealistic expectations," said Diggle dryly.

"You can't be serious?" said Oliver in distress. "You want to keep Bunny around?"

"You're asking the wrong question," pointed out Diggle. "The real question is, do we have any possible hope of getting Bunny out of our lives now that he's in them?"

"Yes?" offered up Oliver hopefully.

Diggle arched an eyebrow.

Oliver's shoulders sagged. "This is ridiculous," he complained. "Why are we being undone by one man?"

"It's not one man, it's a Bunny," said Diggle wryly. "And if you have a plan to make him go away after all this is done, I'm listening."

"We tell him to go," said Oliver and then pulled a face. "Okay, yeah, that's not going to work."

"I don't know what everyone's problem is," said Felicity. "I think Bunny is awesome."

"That's because he's not sexually harassing you every five seconds," said Oliver in agitation.

Felicity gave an inelegant snort. "Like you all can't look out for your own virtue."

"Okay, let's put it this way," argued Oliver. "How would you feel if Bunny was a woman and was propositioning me all over the place?"

"Nope," said Diggle firmly, "abort, Oliver, abort."

Oliver gave him a confused look, not understanding the warning. "Why? What did I say?"

Felicity arched an eyebrow. "Are you being serious right now?"

"Yes. I don't think you'd be this relaxed about Bunny's behavior if he was a woman and was always trying to get his hands on me," argued Oliver, not giving up on making his point, particularly if he could win Felicity over to his way of thinking.

Diggle shook his head. "So pretty and yet so unbelievably stupid."

"What?" demanded Oliver. "What am I saying that is so wrong?"

"Oliver Queen, are you really this disconnected from your own life?" asked Felicity firmly. "And the life of people around you?"

Oliver frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"I wouldn't be trial dating you if I was worried about other women."

"I know," said Oliver quickly, "and you don't have to… worry about other women, I mean."

"Because when it comes to you and other women," continued on Felicity, as though he hadn't spoken, "there is a lot of fuel to add to that particular fire."

"That's all in the past," protested Oliver. "I only have eyes for you. Tell me you know that, Felicity."

"Your effect on women is not in the past," said Felicity calmly. "Just yesterday a woman handed you her phone number in that coffee shop we were having lunch in."

"She probably was just looking for a job," hedged Oliver.

"The phone number was written on her panties," said Felicity flatly. "I think we all know what job she was angling for."

Oliver grimaced.

"And then there was the woman at the bank, who wanted you to sign her breasts." Felicity gave him a pointed look. "Or are you going to try to tell me she mistook you for her cardiac surgeon when she ripped open her blouse?"

Diggle sighed. "Told you, no good can come of these conversations."

Oliver ignored him as he looked earnestly into Felicity's eyes. "Look, it doesn't matter what those other women do, how much they proposition me, that doesn't change my feelings for you, or my fidelity in this relationship." Felicity just held his gaze steadily and then Oliver realized something. He looked over at Diggle. "I just shot down my own argument about why we should get rid of Bunny, didn't I?" asked Oliver in resignation.

"Even the slowest train pulls into the station eventually," said Diggle, lips twitching.

Oliver banged his head back against the wall. "Damn it." He rallied quickly though. "Okay, I want to change the premise of my argument."

"Sloppy debating practice," noted Diggle.

Oliver didn't care. "He's a security risk. You see how much that guy talks. Bunny is a liability with all that running off at the mouth."

"Nope, bad choice," offered up Diggle.

"I talk a lot," pointed out Felicity. "Is that how you see me, Oliver, as a liability?"

"No," said Oliver hastily, once again realizing too late his argument was on shaky ground. "No, that isn't what I meant. I trust you."

"Well, I trust Bunny, and, doing the math, if you trust me and I trust Bunny, then by extension, you must trust Bunny too," said Felicity easily. "It's simple."

Oliver opened his mouth to try and form some kind of rebuttal but Diggle got in first.

"At some point you're going to have to realize that everything you say just digs yourself a bigger hole when it comes to the Bunny debacle," said Diggle dryly. "Your only chance going forward is silence."

Oliver scowled at him for that, even more annoyed because the other man was most likely right.

"I guess if you're really worried, I can always use the amnesia serum I've been developing," said Felicity casually. "That'll wipe all of Bunny's memories from the last couple of weeks."

Oliver look at her in amazement. "We have amnesia serum?"

"No, of course we don't," snorted Felicity. She rolled her eyes at him. "What am I, a Bond villain?"

Diggle gave a little bark of laughter, which Oliver really didn't appreciate.

"You made the exo-skeleton suit," argued Oliver. "And fixed the plumbing in this place and somehow managed to fit in becoming Bunny's personal shopper. To be honest, Felicity, I feel like when it comes to you, anything is possible."

"I would make an awesome Bond villain," conceded Felicity in satisfaction. "You're just lucky I'm choosing to use my powers for good, rather than evil."

"I think the whole of Starling City is grateful for that," said Oliver in amusement.

Suddenly the lights came back on and they were all forced to blink in the abrupt flood of light.

"Arrggghhh!"

Roy's scream bounced off the foundry walls. The younger man staggered out of the bathroom, face screwed up. "I did _not_ need to see that!"

Bunny strolled out after him, tying up his robe more securely. "Oh honey, what's a little full frontal nudity between friends?"

"Bad!" snapped Roy. "It's bad!"

Felicity was reaching for her phone. "The phone service is back." She flicked through a few screens. "I've got some missed messages."

"Is the power back on everywhere?" asked Oliver.

"I'll check," said Felicity absently as she stood up and retrieved her messages. She took a seat at the computer and squinted at the screen. "Dang it, I really do need to keep a spare set of glasses here." Felicity started to tap away at the keyboard regardless, as she listened to her phone messages.

"So, we can get out of here?" asked Roy hopefully.

"Yes," said Felicity over her shoulder. "The doors have unlocked."

"But you're still not going anywhere," Diggle reminded him. "You're pulling Bunny duty. I've got a party to go to."

"Don't I get some kind of time to recover from my PBSD?" asked Roy unevenly. He clarified as the others looked at him. "Post Bunny Stress Disorder."

"No," said Diggle without hesitation, "you don't."

"Damn it," scowled Roy.

"Power is up all over the city," confirmed Felicity, leaning closer to the screen to read the reports. "Only one or two black spots left but they're working on them."

"So, I'm good to go?" asked Diggle.

Oliver nodded at him. "Yes, go, don't keep the lady waiting." He half-smiled. "And have fun."

"That's the plan," said Diggle in satisfaction. He headed towards the stairs, the monster bobbing up and down from his chest. "See you all later."

"Shall I wait up for you to tuck me in tonight?" asked Bunny hopefully as Diggle started up the stairs.

"That would be a no," said Diggle calmly, as he reached for his phone and dialed. "Lyla, hi, it's me. Sorry, got held up but I'm on my way now."

Diggle was out the door now and Bunny turned his attention to Roy. "Looks like you get the honors, kitten," he said brightly.

"Can you hear that?" asked Roy, a deadly serious expression on his face.

Bunny cocked his head. "Hear what, honey?"

"That's the sound of me screaming 'no' so high-pitched, only dogs can hear it," said Roy flatly.

"I love it when you play hard to get," purred Bunny.

"I have to go too," said Felicity suddenly.

Oliver looked at her and smiled. Finally some alone time. "Sounds great, let me get my coat."

Felicity wrinkled her nose and hung up her phone. "Actually, I just got a message from my Mom, she's sounding pretty down – rehab blues. She wants to Skype with me." Felicity bit her bottom lip and looked at Oliver. "Is that okay?"

"Of course," said Oliver swiftly, hoping his disappointment didn't show. "Go and talk with your mom. We'll make plans for another day."

"Sorry," said Felicity apologetically. "It's just that our talks can last for awhile. I think Mom is missing her life and gets a little stir crazy."

"I understand, Felicity," said Oliver reassuringly. "Your mom has to be your first priority. It's okay."

"I'll make it up to you," promised Felicity as she collected her coat. "How about I take you out on a date tomorrow?"

Oliver grinned. "That sounds great. Where are we going?"

Felicity pursed her lips and looked thoughtful. "It's a surprise. Dress accordingly."

Oliver laughed, already looking forward to it. "How do you dress for a surprise exactly?"

"Layering," advised Bunny knowingly.

"Something waterproof," offered up Roy. "Maybe fire retardant too, seeing as your last surprise date involved arson."

"It wasn't arson, it was an accident," said Felicity quickly. "And there won't be any fire where we're going." She walked up to Oliver and gave him a quick kiss.

"Do I get a clue?" he asked, reaching out and taking her hand.

Felicity scrunched up her face. "I don't want to give it away but be prepared to end the night on your knees in front of me."

Oliver arched an intrigued eyebrow. "Really?"

"_Way_ more sexual than I intended," said Felicity ruefully.

"Do you hear me complaining?" asked Oliver playfully.

Bunny gave a sigh along with a faraway look. "All my best dates ended up with at least one of us on our knees."

"Don't ruin my enjoyment of this moment," said Oliver in vague annoyance.

"I'm just saying."

"Can you not, just this once?"

Bunny shrugged. "Okay, but this point feels moot now."

"It's the mootiest," agreed Roy and then hesitated as everyone looked at him. "If moot means what I think it does."

Oliver rolled his eyes and realized something. "Wait, you can't drive, Felicity. I broke your glasses." He smiled, happy to have an excuse to stay with her longer. "I'll drive you home."

"I have spare glasses in my car."

"Oh," said Oliver, disappointed. "Okay, how about I pick you up for a breakfast date? That's be number nine and then our date that night will make it an even ten," he said in satisfaction. "Half way there to our twenty quota in a week. Not bad."

"I can't work out if this trial dating quota thing is cute or stupid," said Roy flatly. "I'm leaning towards stupid."

"It's what Felicity wants so it's not stupid," said Oliver sharply.

"I think it's romantic," said Bunny approvingly. "You hardly ever see romance anymore."

"You sure you don't want me to drive you home?" asked Oliver, a little wistfully.

Felicity gave a short shake of her head. "No, it gets too complicated with cars then. It's fine." She headed towards the stairs Diggle had just disappeared up. "You stay here and have fun with Bunny and Roy."

"I don't think that's possible," said Oliver, sounding less than thrilled by that plan.

"Ohh… a challenge," said Bunny happily. "I love those."

Felicity gave Oliver a playful wink. "I'll leave you in capable hands then. Night, boys."

"My hands are so capable they come with their own accreditation paperwork," called out Bunny brightly after her. "You give Mummy Poppet a big hello from Aunty Bunny."

"Will do," laughed Felicity as she climbed the stairs.

Oliver couldn't help but admire Felicity shapely backside as it swung from side to side as she climbed the stairs. That was until he noticed he wasn't the only one doing it. "Hey," he said in annoyance to the other two men as Felicity headed out the door. "You're dating my sister and you're gay – no ogling of Felicity's butt, got it?"

"Sorry, just kind of draws the eye," said Roy sheepishly. "I didn't know I was doing it."

"I did," said Bunny candidly. "I like bottoms. I'm not gender specific when it comes to magnificent buttocks."

Oliver was about to tell him he should start when Bunny clapped his hands together, rubbing them excitedly. "Right then, who's up for another story?" He looked expectantly between Oliver and Roy. "Any takers?"

Oliver looked at Roy, trying to work out how the romantic Halloween evening he'd planned with Felicity had come to this. He pulled a face. "I should probably just work out."

Bunny's eyes lit up. "Also a most excellent suggestion. Tell me, where's the best vantage point one might find as to not miss any of the sweating and heaving gorgeousness?"

"Okay, I'm rethinking the exercise thing," said Oliver dryly.

"I'm eating the last of the pizza," said Roy. "I'm stuck in here for the duration, so, I'm whatever."

"Your call then, monkey," said Bunny. "What do you want to do?"

Oliver exhaled loudly and tried to make up his mind…

**A/N****: Okay, so, confession time. I was planning on doing 3 horror stories in this little anthology but I think I'll leave it at the two for the moment. I'm going to put complete on this story but I may well come back at some point and add a couple more chapters because I do have an idea for a final story – there is a lot of nudity in it, hope that isn't going to be a problem? ;) Anyways, in case I do, you may want to follow this story, if you haven't already. That is, if you want to, of course. **

**Thank you again one and all for joining me on this bout of silliness and for your kind reviews and follows/faves etc. I'm starting the next story now, don't know when I'll start posting but I do hope you'll join me when I do. I'll miss you all heaps in the interim. **

**Group hug, people… hey, hands! Wait, I didn't say stop… ;) **


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